Plaintive
by Ephemeralda
Summary: Sakura was never as pretty or as popular as her sisters Meiling & Tomoyo. So the cute guy next door would never even give her a second glance, right?
1. Your average plain Jane

**Title**: Plaintive 

**Author**: Ephemeralda

**Rating**: PG

**Summary**: Sakura was never as pretty or as popular as her sisters Meiling & Tomoyo, right? So the cute guy next door would never give her even a second glance, right?

**Disclaimer**: Blah-blah-blah

**Chapter 1: Your average plain Jane**

I looked at my sister, as she got ready for the party. For the past one hour, she had been tying to do her hair. Well, more like fiddling with it.

"Meiling," I said, "you look great, and your hair's perfect, I promise."

"No it isn't. Imagine what Riyu would say if he found my hair all messed up. Oh God! What am I going to do?"

"Come on, its not as if you're going out with him for the first time. And, besides, your hair is _perfectly_ fine!"

I heard the sound of a car outside. Moments later the doorbell rang.

Meiling fastened her pace. "That must be Riyu. Now please Sakura, be a little helpful and open the door. Tell him I'll be out in a sec."

"Right" I said, not so very enthusiastically and went out of her room.

I opened the door to find the burly basketball player standing outside. "Hi Riyu." I said dryly. He replied with a shove and almost demanded, as if he was the ultimate authority-"Where's Meiling?" Geez, what _did_ Meiling see in this guy?

"She's just applying some 'final touches' on herself," I answered. "Hopefully she'll be ready by morning."

He frowned, mumbling something and sat down on the sofa. Wondering how a self-respecting girl could _ever_ date such a guy, I went back to my room. At last I could spend some time alone with myself, I thought. Tomoyo had gone to the party with Eriol, Meiling would be going soon and dad was staying overnight at work.

Which meant I could have the whole house left to myself for at least 3 hours. No Meiling going on about her boyfriends. No Tomoyo going on about how kawaii I'd look if I wore one of her self-designed revealing dresses. And no dad going on about 3000 yr old pots and pans he'd discovered in one of his archaeological expeditions.

"Sakura, I'm going." I heard Meiling's voice from the other room. "OK." I shouted back. I sighed as the door banged shut. Being alone had its minus points too- you suddenly feel miserable and alone...

I looked out through the window. As Riyu's car drove by, I could see the headlights lighting up the windows of the opposite empty house. Actually, house would be an understatement. It was more of a mansion. I remembered dad saying that the actual owners had sold it off, and we could expect new neighbours pretty soon. Well, they've got to be stinking rich if they can afford that house.

But then my thoughts switched back to the windows- they were so much like me- dark, plaintive, lonely...

I'm not the kind of girl boys go after. I'm just another plain Jane. And I really don't mind that. In fact, I prefer being single but then that was the very reason why I hadn't been invited to the party. It was for couples. Huh, like I care. Who wants to go to some silly dance party for show-offs.

But then why was I feeling so lonely? And why do I get jealous every time I see Eriol & Tomoyo holding hands, kissing- I mean, I don't like Eriol in that way. He's way too mushy-wushy for me. He sometimes even freaks me out.

I felt something soft tickling my feet. "Kero!" I cried, picking up my pet cat. "You'd never leave me alone, would you?" I giggled as it licked my face.

I put him down and sat down on my bed. Maybe I should get a love life too...


	2. Your not so average guy next door

**Chapter 2: Your not-so-average guy-next-door**

There's got to be some kind of jinx, as far as my waking up on time is concerned. Yesterday I broke my new alarm when I threw it out of the window. (Un)luckily, it missed Meiling's head by inches. She was after my life the whole day, blaming me of 'attempted murder'.

It was not even my fault. I was half asleep and it was ringing so loudly. Plus I just couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

So today I had to get up without an alarm (Dad totally refused to buy me another- that had been my sixth). And now I'm extra late.

"Sakura! Hurry up." I heard dad's voice. "Your sisters have left already."

"Oh great!" I mumbled, trying to put on my other shoe, which suddenly seemed to have shrunk, or maybe my feet had expanded overnight.

I grabbed my bag and hopped out of my room. Dad looked at me and shook his head. "You're late again Sakura." I gave him an 'I-can't-help-it' look, while somehow managing to squeeze my foot into the shoe and rushed out of the house.

* * *

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that there was no teacher in the class- I was 15 minutes late. I entered quite unnoticed and went to take my seat near Tomoyo and Meiling, who were busy talking.

"I wonder who they are. They do seem awfully rich, considering the amount of stuff they've got." Tomoyo was saying. Meiling nodded.

"Whom are you talking about?" I interrupted.

"Our new neighbours." Meiling replied.

Tomoyo looked at me. "Wow Sakura. That must be the first time you managed to enter Mrs.Amano's class without getting detention. Good for you she's not come today."

But I was too interested in what Meiling had said to reply to Tomoyo. "New neighbours? When did we get new neighbours?"

"This morning." Meiling said offhandedly. "Geez, Sakura, how thick can you be. Didn't you see those huge vans parked outside their house?"

"Uh, I didn't notice. I was in a real hurry-"

I suddenly noticed that Tomoyo was staring at me oddly. "What?" I asked her.

Trying hard to suppress a smile, she said-"Well, you were in a hurry. So I guess that explains it."

"Explain what?"

Tomoyo burst into a fit of giggles. Confused, I looked at Meiling. She too was smiling. "What?" I asked again.

"Sakura" she whispered, "You've worn your shirt inside out."

* * *

Grrr...I hate Tomoyo. My day had already gone horribly bad, what with Tomoyo laughing all the way back home at the 'inside out shirt' incident. As we neared our house, she started off again. 

"Oh Sakura, sometimes you can be just so thick."

"Shut up."

"And that look on your face when Meiling told you-"

"Shut up."

"And then the way you ran to the bathroom- I never knew you could run so fast."

"Tomoyo, I told you to shut up."

Tomoyo smiled and hugged me. "You look so kawaii when you get angry!"

Well, I definitely did not want her to get started on _that_ subject. I quickly changed the topic. "Looks like they've still got lots of unpacking to do." I said, pointing to the loads of cardboard boxes lined up at the opposite mansion.

"Uh-uh." Tomoyo nodded.

"Who's he?" I asked, suddenly seeing an elderly man standing at the door of our house and talking to dad. He was quite smartly dressed.

Tomoyo shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe he's the new owner of that house."

As we walked closer I could hear dad saying- "Sure. You can tell Mrs Li Yelan that we'll definitely come. Nice meeting you Mr.Wei."

"Hi dad." I said. The man looked at us. "Ah, these must be your daughters. What beautiful young ladies!" He said bowing to us.

Dad nodded "Yes. This is Tomoyo and this is Sakura."

He smiled at us. "You two remind me of our mistress's daughters." He turned back to dad. "Well Mr.Kinomoto, I must go now. Mistress will be coming soon." Shaking dad's hand, he said." It was a pleasure meeting you all. Don't forget to come for dinner on Saturday."

* * *

Tomoyo poured out a glass of water for herself. "And I actually thought he was the owner." 

"So did I. Dad said the Lis are a very influential family. They've got about 25 servants." I said. "I wonder what they do with 25 servants. And that man didn't look like a servant to me."

"Where did he say they are from?"

"Hong Kong, I think."

"Well, that's a nice & happening place. I wonder why they are moving here. If you ask me, Tomoeda has to be one of the most boring places on this planet." I had to agree with her. Tomoeda's a really dull place to live in. Nothing ever happens up here.

"Oh by the way, I forgot to tell you." Tomoyo said, biting her lip. "I called Eriol over to help me with my homework."

I stared at her. "You WHAT?"

She sighed. "Sakura, come on. Eriol's not such a bad guy. I don't know why you don't like him."

"I never said I didn't like him."

"Well, then why don't you like it when he comes here?"

I frowned and sat down on the sofa. "Because you two are always so lovey- dovey all the time and it gets on my nerves- that's why! He's always like- 'I love you my sugar pie' and you're like- 'I love you too my sweetie plum'."

Tomoyo laughed. "It's sweetie pie and sugar plum."

"Whatever."

Tomoyo came and sat beside me. "You know Sakura, I think you are just feeling a bit- lonely."

"What do you mean? Why should I feel lonely? I've got you, Meiling, dad-"

"No Sakura. What I'm trying to say is- you need that special someone in your life, like Eriol is in mine. You need a boyfriend who understands you."

I knew how right she was, but I wasn't going to admit that in front of her. "Tomoyo, it's easy for you to say it, but you know very well that I'm not interested in boys and nor are boys interested in me."

Tomoyo shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but I held up my hand. "Please, I don't want to talk about it." I stood up. "I'm going for a walk."

"Walk? Since when did you start taking walks?"

"Since Hiirigizawa Eriol started coming into this house. I don't think I can stand one more minute of you two cuddling, snuggling and teasing while I'm trying to do my math." I said, heading towards my room. "And Meiling would be coming back soon from her cheerleading practice and I can't stand her going on with the never-ending story of her ever-changing love life either."

* * *

A cool breeze was blowing outside, but my mind was still full of what Tomoyo had said a few minutes back. I sighed. I hate it when Tomoyo's right. 

"If I told you a secret you wouldn't spill it out, would you Kero?" I looked down at my cat, walking beside me.

"Hey, where did you get that?" I asked, seeing something sticking out of his mouth. "Give me that." I said bending and pulling it out. It was a small stuffed teddy bear, though not in a very good condition. Picking him up, I scolded him "Stuffed toys are not cat food, Ok? They can get stuck in your throat."

Suddenly for some reason he became rigid. With a frightened 'MIAO', he jumped out of my arms and ran up the nearest tree. "Kero! What's the matter with-" A growling sound made me stop and turn around. To my horror, I saw a huge three-foot tall dog running towards me. And before I knew what was happening, it knocked me down on the pavement and started barking at Kero, who was holding on to a tree branch for dear life.

"Spinel! That's it. I've had enough of you!" came a voice. "I'm- uh- sorry. My dog just gets excited every time he sees a cat."

I was a bit dazed by the fall and it took me a few seconds to realise what had happened. And when I did, I looked up to see who the voice belonged to. I had meant to say something like "It's Ok".

But all I could do was gasp.

He was better looking than any of the sexy fashion magazine models Meiling keeps drooling over. His messy brown hair falling over his amber- coloured eyes. His lips set in a very firm, serious manner. And right from his loose white shirt to his blue jeans he was just- Wow!

I suddenly realised I was staring and looked away. I felt my cheeks getting warm.

"Umm- let me help you get up." He said, offering his hand. I took it and got up awkwardly. "I really am sorry," he said again. I gulped, trying to get some words out. For some reason, my throat muscles seemed to have ceased functioning.

He bent down and silenced his barking dog. He then looked up at Kero. "Ok. You can come down. It's safe now."

Kero stayed still for a moment. Then very carefully, he climbed down, his frightened eyes watching the dog, and jumped in to my arms.

"He seems to like you very much," the guy said. I nodded lamely.

Ok Sakura, I straightened up and said to myself. Here's the cutest guy on this planet standing right in front of you, looking at you and trying to start a conversation with you. You've got to help him out, you know. Say something. Anything that comes to your mind.

"Stuffed toys can get stuck in your throat." I blurted out.

Oh my God, WHAT did I just say?

He looked at me strangely, as if I was mad, and I probably was. But then his expression changed into an amused one and with a half smile he said- "I guess so, but only if you tried to eat them."

I wished I could just evaporate on the spot. But since that was not very possible, I chose the next best option. I ran.


	3. An average day

**Chapter 3: An average day**

"Did you see him?"

"The one with the messy brown hair?"

"Yeah..."

"God! He's cute."

That morning the classroom was full of whispers, mainly of the girls- the topic of discussion being the new guy (the very guy whom I'd bumped into yesterday). I'm sure he was quite aware of the stir he was creating, but chose to ignore it and coolly leaned back on his chair, skimming through a book. Maybe he was used to drawing attention.

Meiling eyed him up & down. "Yeah- he's really cute. Wonder if he's available." I looked at my sister. "Meiling. Don't you already have a boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend? Who?

I rolled my eyes. "Suzuki Riyu." I stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh him. That's no big deal. He cheats on me all the time."

"How do you know?"

"I walked in on him kissing one of those airheads- what's her name- Megumi- Migori-"

I stared at her. "And you still put up with him?"

"Sakura, he's a basketball player- one of the most popular guys in this school. And he's good-looking. It's cool to date him."

"So you go out with the biggest jerk in the school just because 'it's cool to date him'?"

Meiling shook her head and gave me a patronizing stare. "Sakura, you're too naïve & inexperienced. You'll never understand all this stuff." I rolled my eyes again. Like I want to.

"So what do you think of our new classmate?" I turned to look at Tomoyo, who had a mischievous grin on her face. I gulped. I didn't like the look of that grin at all.

"He's cute, I guess."

"Well, you seem to know him."

"Not really."

"What do you mean- 'not really'? He smiled at you when he saw you. And then your face was as red as a tomato."

I turned pink. I remembered how shocked I was when I had spotted him in my class. And though I'd tried my best to hide myself and not let him see me, he had caught sight of me and given me a small smile. To which my face had responded by going red, mainly because of being reminded of yesterday's little incident. And my dear sweet sister had to notice that.

"Umm...we've sort of met."

Tomoyo's eyes widened. "Really. When?"

"Er- yesterday."

For the first time I was glad when Mrs.Amano entered the class. That stopped Tomoyo from grilling me any further with her questions, for now at least. But the sight of our Math teacher didn't improve my mood. She was one of my least favourite teachers and I wasn't exactly in her good books either. I watched her as she introduced the new boy to the class.

"Class, this is Li Syaoran, who recently moved to Tomoeda from Hong Kong-"

Li? Hong Kong? I caught Tomoyo's eye and she nodded. Could he be... oh god. This couldn't get any worse. If he was living next door and was in the same class as me, then I would be seeing him practically everyday and probably talking to him as well. And I really didn't think I could face him after yesterday's mess up.

"Well. I would like a volunteer who would like to show Mr. Li around the school during recess." Our teacher's voice cut into my thoughts.

Almost all the girls' hand shot up. Even I had half a mind to do so. But I decided against it. There was no point anyways. I knew who Mrs.Amano was going to choose- her favourite student, of course-

"Miss Kinomoto."

There. What did I tell you.

* * *

If you by any chance thought 'Miss Kinomoto' was referring to me, you're so mistaken. Our _dear_ teacher obviously meant my _dear_ sister Meiling. Meiling had almost jumped out of her seat when she had picked her. Geez, I had wondered, doesn't this girl ever get enough of guys. I mean- she changes her boyfriend every month.

But that evening she was in a very bad mood. Apparently Li Syaoran wasn't like other guys. He had ignored her advances throughout the tour of the school, merely nodding whenever she pointed out a room or a building.

Meiling came and sat between Tomoyo and me, practically fuming. "Not a word. To him, it was as if I didn't exist."

Meiling was quite pretty and one of the most popular girls in the school. She had half the guys in the school eating out of her hand. It was not everyday that you met a guy who could resist her charm.

"Or maybe he was just pretending to ignore me." She said suddenly, standing up.

"Why exactly would he _pretend_ to ignore you?" Tomoyo asked lightly. I could see that she was trying hard to keep a straight face.

"So that I don't realise that he likes me. I mean come on, who can resist _me_?" Meiling said, tossing her hair back. Tomoyo rolled her eyes.

"So he thinks he's too cool. Well, I'll show him what stuff Kinomoto Meiling is made of. At that dinner tomorrow Li Syaoran won't know what hit him." She said firmly, as she walked out of the room.

I watched her leave, but something she said struck me. Dinner? What dinner is she talking about?

I suddenly remembered a vague image of Mr.Wei- 'Don't forget to come to dinner on Saturday' And today was- Friday.

Oh dear.


	4. Preparations for dinner

**Chapter 4: Preparations for dinner**

I groaned in frustration as I looked at my wardrobe. What was one supposed to wear for a dinner with one of the richest and most sophisticated families in town, who unfortunately happened to reside right next to you, not mentioning that a certain Li Syaoran would also be present there, and that you had already managed to make a fool of yourself in front of him?

I sighed and flopped down on my bed. I remembered dad telling me that the dinner was supposed to be a formal one and that we were to wear something feminine and elegant. I had no idea what exactly he had meant by feminine.

"Need some help?" I turned to see a grinning Tomoyo standing at the door. I nodded helplessly.

* * *

"And what exactly makes you think I'm going to wear that?" I said, hands on hip.

Tomoyo shrugged. "I knew you wouldn't. But it was worth a shot." She said, placing the body hugging (or at least I thought so) dress back in her cupboard. But pulling out another one, she asked. "How about this one then?"

I groaned. "God, Tomoyo, you never give up, do you? I don't know why I agreed to you helping me with this."

"Why what's so bad about this one? I thought it's quite elegant."

"Yeah, right." I said sarcastically, while walking up to her cupboard. "I think I'll do the choosing myself." I scanned the dresses arranged neatly, finally picking a green one. "This one seems fine."

Tomoyo stared at me. "But that's just too simple. Li Syaoran would never notice you over Meiling with that on."

It was my turn to stare. "_Excuse me_?"

Tomoyo threw her arms up in indignation. "Sakura, don't you remember what Meiling said last night? She's probably sitting in her room right now, plotting and planning on how to seduce him. Are you going to let her win without a fight?"

I gaped at her, shocked for words. But I finally managed to get them out. "And what exactly makes you think _I_ am planning to _seduce_ Li Syaoran?"

Tomoyo grinned. "Well maybe you aren't. But you like him, don't you?"

"No I don't."

"You said he's cute."

"That doesn't mean I-"

"You blush every time he looks at you."

"That's because I'm reminded of that 'stuffed toy' incident."

"What 'stuffed toy' incident?" Tomoyo asked eagerly.

I frowned. "I'm not telling you. You'll keep teasing me about it." She pouted. "And if you're planning to start with your matchmaking again, forget it. Your last attempt had ended in disaster, if you remember."

Tomoyo stayed silent for a while. "That date with Kyu wasn't exactly 'disaster'."

"Oh yes it was." I said, shuddering as I remembered Tomoyo's last attempt to 'teach me how to live life'. She had convinced me to attend some silly party thrown by one of her friends and also managed to set me up with Kyu, who she said was a really nice guy. I agreed to go to the party only because she & Eriol were also going. Plus, Kyu wasn't such a bad guy either, or that was what I had thought.

Saying that she was giving me a makeover Tomoyo had made me wear a horrible revealing outfit of hers and forced me to put on all that make-up which, in my opinion, ended up making me look like some slut. Though when Kyu came to pick me up, he seemed to like my 'new look'. So I just smiled and thought- maybe this wasn't going to be that bad.

In a way I was right. It hadn't been bad. It had been _worse_. Throughout the party, Kyle kept 'accidentally' touching me in all sorts of places, and I felt increasingly uncomfortable. Finally I had enough when his hand which had been around my waist slowly slid down and before I could protest he pinched me there!

The rest is history. Or let's just say- no guy dared to approach me after that incident.

Tomoyo looked at me and then suddenly burst into a fit of giggles. "Yes. It was a disaster, all right. You gave your date a black eye!"

"He deserved it." I mumbled.

"Oh. So you are scared that Syaoran would be like Kyu."

I sighed. "Tomoyo, give it a break, ok? I. Don't. Like. Li. Syaoran. Fine- he's cute & stuff, but I don't like guys just because they're good- looking." Grabbing the dress I had chosen, I walked out of her room.

* * *

I was the first to get ready for the dinner, besides Dad. So I just flopped down on the sofa, and switched on the TV, while I waited for the others. Tomoyo soon came out of her room, in a blue dress, looking as feminine & elegant as dad would've wanted. She looked at me & bit her lip. I hadn't put on any make-up.

"Forget it Tomoyo. You know it's useless. You're not going to convince me into-" but the rest of the words died on my lips as I stared at Meiling, who had just walked into the living room.

I saw Tomoyo's eyes widen as she too got a glimpse of our sister. Her dress seemed to cling on to her, highlighting very curve. A plunging neckline, a deep slit and a face almost painted with make-up.

"Um... Meiling. What are you wearing?"

Meiling gave me that same patronizing stare, which I really hate. "Why? Does it look bad?" she asked nonchalantly, tossing her long black hair back.

"Well-er..."

"Oh, good. You're all ready. Shall we go now?" Dad interrupted, as he entered the room. His eyes lingered on Meiling's dress and he opened his mouth to say something, but chose not to. Maybe he had got used to seeing Meiling dress up like this. But that was when she went out with her stupid boyfriends. This was supposed to be a _formal dinner_, for crying out loud.

I turned my attention back to Meiling, and Tomoyo's words came back to me- 'She's probably sitting in her room right now, plotting and planning on how to seduce him.' I smiled. She was right. And I suddenly found myself looking forward to this dinner. This was going to be interesting...


	5. Dinner with the Lis 1

**Chapter 5: Dinner with the Lis (Part 1)**

A young lady led us into a beautifully furnished room. "Please be seated. I'll go & call Mrs. Li," she said before leaving.

I sat down on the sofa and looked around in awe. In barely two days they had managed to set everything in order. Advantages of having 25 servants, I suppose.

The sound of excited girlish chatter drifted into the room. I turned around to see four girls entering the room, talking excitedly amongst themselves.

"Oh!" the eldest among them exclaimed, suddenly spotting us. "Oh, you must be our neighbours, the Kinomotos. Mother said that we should be expecting you." She said giving dad a bright smile.

Dad nodded & smiled back. "Yes, and these are my daughters Meiling, Sakura & Tomoyo."

She looked at us. "Well, hi. I'm Xiefa, and these are my sisters-"

"Fan-Ren." The girl standing next to her responded, as if on cue.

"Fuutie."

"Fei-Mei."

"Ah, Mr.Kinomoto. I'm glad you came." Everyone's attention turned to a very pretty lady, who had just walked into the room.

"Mrs. Li, I'm honoured." Dad said, standing up and bowing. We followed his actions. She returned the courtesy and sat down. Her every movement held elegance and poise and I couldn't help admiring the way she held herself. Her eyes were the same intense amber, as Syaoran.

I saw each of the sisters observing us carefully, with Meiling, not surprisingly, receiving most of the stares. A knowing look passed between Fei-Mei and Fuutie and they grinned. They probably could see right through her intentions. I turned my attention to my sister, who was looking around the room as if searching for someone. That's when I suddenly realised that Syaoran was not there.

"I feel so lucky to be able to meet the most famous fashion designer in China, Mrs. Li. I just simply adore your designs." Tomoyo's voice cut into my thoughts.

"You like my designs?"

Tomoyo nodded fervently. "Uh-huh. Especially your 'la belle soir' collection."

Li Yelan smiled. "You seem to have a keen interest in fashion."

Dad looked at Tomoyo fondly. "She designs dresses in her free time. She has quite a huge collection of all sorts of dresses."

"Really?" she asked surprised. "I would love to see them sometime."

Tomoyo's eyes widened. "You would?"

"Er- I was just wondering out of curiosity- where's Syaoran?" Meiling interrupted.

Yelan who had been engrossed with Tomoyo, looked at her, then her dress and raised an elegant eyebrow. "You mean young Xiao-Lang?"

"Oh, he doesn't like meeting new people." Xiefa answered for her.

"He's kind of anti-social. Bit of an introvert." Fan-Ren continued.

"He's most probably sitting in his room, right now, and reading a book." This from Fuutie.

"Or feeding Spinel, you know, our dog." Fei-Mei finished. I wondered if they always spoke on cue, like this. But as I observed them, they all had identical smirks on their face. Meiling on the other hand was scowling. I tried hard to suppress a grin.

"You know Xiao-Lang?" Yelan asked, regarding Meiling coolly.

"Oh, yes. He's in the same class as we're." Tomoyo replied.

"Is that so?" Yelan smiled, turning to Tomoyo, who she seemed to really like. "That's wonderful."

I hadn't said a word, all this while. I decided that keeping your mouth shut was the best way of making sure you don't make a fool of yourself. I really didn't need to talk, not when Tomoyo was there to do all the talking. Meiling's quite a loudmouth herself, but right now she didn't seem in the mood. She was still scowling.

* * *

I trailed behind the group of chattering girls. With Tomoyo & now Meiling (who had gotten over her disappointment of not being able to meet Syaoran) keeping the other four girls engaged in conversation, I remained unnoticed. Not that I minded it. I was in fact quite used to it, me being the plain Jane. 

"And that's Fan-Ren's room. And the room just across it, that's mine." Xiefa described, walking ahead of the group. Mrs. Li had told her daughters to show us around the Li mansion, while we waited for dinner to be ready.

"How many rooms are there in your house?" Meiling asked.

"About 20-25. I haven't counted." Fei-Mei answered. "There's the study room, mum's room, then the room where she keeps all her designs. My room's upstairs & so is Fuutie's. Her room is quite easy to spot- it's the one which seems to have been hit by a hurricane."

"Hey!"

"This is Xiao Lang's room." Xiefa continued. She stopped in front of the room and knocked on the door. "Xiao Lang. Are you in there?" She opened the door. "Great, he isn't here either. Where is he?"

"I'm telling you he's gone to feed Spinel." Fuutie said. "That's what he always does when we have guests over. Hides himself quite conveniently."

"Oh well." Xiefa sighed, closed the door and walked on. "So, here's the library. All the books haven't been arranged as yet, though."

"Wow, you have your own library!" Tomoyo exclaimed.

I looked at all the book shelves arranged one after the other. Some of them were empty and I noticed several piles of books kept on one side.

"Let's go to the garden." Fei-Mei suggested. "We're sure to find our little brother there. It's really rude on his part to avoid our guests like this." Meiling's eyes brightened and I saw her lips curving up in a very sinister smile.

"Um, I'll just stay here." I said. Xiefa looked at me, as if noticing me for the first time. "Well, if you wish."

Tomoyo frowned. "Why what's the matter, Sakura?"

"Er- I just feel a bit tired, that's all." I lied. Actually, I'd had enough of following them around like some non-entity. I preferred staying alone in the library. "I'll just sit here and read some book. You can call me when it's time for dinner."

Tomoyo looked at me and then reluctantly said. "Oh, fine."

I watched them leave the room, and headed towards a shelf marked 'Fiction'. I wasn't very much into reading books, and I had no idea about good authors. So I just picked one at random.

"I wouldn't recommend that. The story is just too dragging."

I almost dropped the book in shock. I turned around to face a pair of amber eyes focussed on me.

"Syaoran! I-I didn't know you were here." I stammered.

He smiled. "An effective hiding place, isn't it? Between the shelves."

I remained silent for a while. "Why do you keep hiding like this?"

"The same reason why you decided to remain here." He answered simply.

"Oh..." I kept the book back in the shelf, not knowing what to say. I was feeling extremely conscious around him.

"So your name's Sakura." I nodded. "I didn't know that. Until I heard your sister talking to you. Her name's Tomoyo isn't it? Eriol's girlfriend."

"You know Eriol?"

"Yes. He used to live in Hong Kong too. We studied in the same school."

"Oh." I said.

"They both are very close, aren't they? Eriol goes on about her all the time."

"Well, they've been together for two years now. You could say they're in love."

We both were silent again.

"Sakura. Cherry Blossoms." Syaoran suddenly said, softly. I felt my cheeks getting warm. "You know the name really suits you." He said, almost laughingly. "Your face turns pink all the time, just like cherry blossoms."

I turned even redder, if that was possible. Why, I thought, why do I blush so much around him? I felt so stupid. Why couldn't I hold myself in a casual way like Meiling does, so effortlessly.

"Can I call you Ying Fa?" he asked.

I blinked.

"Not that I don't like your name. Ying Fa just sounds...better." he added quickly.

"Um-well- I suppose."

"Sakura. Come on. They're calling us for din- oh!" We both turned to face a wide-eyed Tomoyo standing at the door & staring at us. "Um hi- Syaoran."

Syaoran gave her a smile and then turned back to me. "I guess, you should go for dinner now, Ying Fa. Would you tell my mother that I'll be coming in a short while?" I nodded dumbly.

* * *

"Ying Fa? What was that all about?" 

I looked at my hyper sister as we made our way to the dining hall. "Um...nothing."

Tomoyo stopped, folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Sakura, you little _schemer_!" she said, laughing out loud. "You _knew_ Syaoran was in the library. You saw him. And so you decided to stay there and flirt with him and try to gain an upper hand over Meiling!"

I stared her. "You actually think I was trying to flirt with him? Tomoyo, it was just a coincidence that he happened to be in the library. I never saw him, I swear!"

"Right. And you expect me to believe that?" she said. "Oh Sakura, don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Before I could open my mouth to protest any further, she dragged me along towards the dining hall. "Come on now, I don't want to be late for dinner."

Sometimes I wish I were an only child.


	6. Dinner with the Lis 2

**Chapter 6: Dinner with the Lis (Part 2)**

I stood near the elaborate dining table, eyeing the different dishes placed before us. Li Yelan seated herself at the head of the table and smiled at all of us. "Please sit down & help yourself."

Everyone was almost halfway through their meal when we heard one of the doors to the dining hall opening. "Uh...I'm sorry- I just-" I turned to find a rather flushed Li Syaoran standing at the door.

"Xiao Lang." Li Yelan said, coldly staring at him. "You're late. Again."

"I apologize mother. Spinel was barking, so I went to feed him."

"You could have told Wei or one of the servants to feed him." She stated simply.

"I-er- decided to feed him myself."

"And where were you all this while? Don't tell me you spent the whole evening feeding the dog."

"I was in the library, mother. Reading." At this, I heard Meiling gasp, clearly surprised that she hadn't spotted him there.

Yelan turned away from her son. "Xiao Lang, I do not approve of you disappearing every time every time we have guests over." He dropped his gaze, staring at his feet. "Anyway, meet our new neighbours- Mr. Kinomoto, & his young daughters. I daresay you've met them before?"

"Yes, I have." He said without looking up.

"As for dinner," Yelan continued, "you can forget about getting any, since you are careless enough about it to walk in so late."

I could see that Syaoran was feeling more & more embarrassed at being scolded in front of strangers. His sisters were looking at him sympathetically. I had expected one of them to defend him, but no one did. The person who did speak up was someone I hadn't expected to. But I probably should have.

"Oh Mrs. Li, you're being too hard on Syaoran. I don't mind him being shy." My sister (guess which one) said. "In fact it's a real turn on for many girls." She gave him, what she thought, was a seductive smile.

I stared at Meiling, & so did Tomoyo. I hadn't thought that she would flirt with him so obviously, and that too in front of his mother! But oh well, this is Meiling we're talking about.

Yelan gave her a cold glare. However, Meiling's attention was still on her 'prey', who was now looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

"I agree mother." Fuutie piped up, though she looked like she was trying hard to keep a straight face. "For the past few days, you've been forcing Xiao Lang to skip his dinner, and look- the poor baby's growing weaker." Syaoran glared at his sister.

"There's no place for him to sit."

"Oh yes there is, Mrs. Li. He can sit here- next to me." Meiling interjected. I saw that she had very strategically seated herself next to an empty chair. That scheming little---

"Oh very well then," Yelan said resignedly to her son, waving her hand. "Sit down and eat."

Syaoran reluctantly made his way to the table and sat down next to Meiling. I watched Meiling closely trying to find out what she was planning. For some reason I had this weird urge to protect Syaoran from my sister. She, however, kept talking with Xiefa and didn't make any moves throughout the dinner.

It was when she had finished eating that I realised why she had wanted Syaoran to sit next to her in the first place.

After wiping her mouth carefully, so as to not smudge the liberal amount of lipstick that she had put on, she got up from her chair and accidentally tripped over it and fell right onto---

Syaoran's lap!

I had a mad urge to punch her. But I restrained myself when Syaoran's plate, still about half full tipped off the table and fell onto her lap, ruining her dress.

"OH NO! My beautiful dress!" she cried getting up, her voice shrill. "It's ruined!" Everyone was now staring at her. I caught Tomoyo's eye but she looked away grinning.

"Well, who told you to jump onto my lap?" Syaoran remarked, frowning. That was the last straw for Tomoyo and she burst out laughing.

"I tripped on the chair," Meiling said, defending herself. "And what's so funny Tomoyo? My brand new dress is ruined and you think it's something amusing."

"Oh yes- your dress is ruined." Tomoyo said, between her giggles. "If you could call it one, that is." That and the sight of a very flustered and angry Meiling, looking dishevelled in her pathetic excuse for a dress, which now didn't look very attractive with all the bits of food sticking on to it, and I couldn't control it any more either.

"Now, now, girls." Yelan said calmly, though her lips had curved upwards slightly. "Xiefa, please lead Ms. Kinomoto to the bathroom. And you may lend her one of your dresses, for her to change into."

Xiefa seemed to be the only one genuinely concerned for Meiling. Dad was frowning at her behaviour. The other three sisters were barely able to suppress their amusement. And Syaoran was muttering something about his dinner being ruined.

* * *

After Meiling had changed into Xiefa's lent pair of jeans and shirt, dad got up. " I think we should be going now, Mrs. Li. We're grateful for your kind hospitality." 

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Kinomoto." Yelan replied, smiling. "And Tomoyo, don't forget to drop in sometime, with your designs."

"Oh, I will, Mrs. Li."

She then turned to her butler. "Wei, drop them till the gate, would you?"

We said our goodbyes and followed the elderly man through the lavish gardens in front of the Li mansion. We had almost reached the gate when I heard Syaoran's voice. "Uh- Ying Fa."

It took a moment for me to realise that he was calling me. I turned.

"You had left this that day, when you-er-ran off." I looked at the thing in his hand. It was the small stuffed teddy bear.

"It's yours, isn't it?" he asked. "And don't worry, I didn't try to eat it." He said teasingly, and as usual, I turned red.

I could feel three pairs of eyes on my back. Dad's held surprise that this guy even knew that I existed. Tomoyo's held a mixture of delight and curiosity. But Meiling's eyes were wide with shock, and absolute rage & jealousy.

I took the stuffed toy from him with a muttered 'thanks', even though it wasn't mine, and I had no idea from where Kero had got it. Then I turned and mechanically walked back home, trying hard not to meet anyone's eye. But I could still feel Meiling's eyes burning through my back.


	7. Aftermath of the Dinner

**Chapter 7: Aftermath of the dinner**

I folded the green dress that I had worn to the dinner while staring at Tomoyo who was now rolling on the bed, helpless with laughter. Maybe I shouldn't have told her about my first 'meeting' with Syaoran.

"Stuff-stuffed toys can get st-stuck-ha ha," she managed to say amid peals of laughter. "Oh god, Sakura. You are just too much!"

No. I definitely shouldn't have told her. But she had been so insistent on the subject that I couldn't help it. I folded my arms and frowned at my sister. "Are you done with your laughter yet?"

She finally managed to control herself and sat up on the bed, looking at me carefully. "So, exactly what is going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing."

Tomoyo raised an eyebrow. "Really?" she asked, sceptically.

I sighed. "Tomoyo, it's hardly been three days since I even saw him for the first time."

"Three days is about 72 hours. A lot can happen in that much time."

"Ok. The only thing that happened was that he learnt my name and then decided that he preferred to call me in Chinese." I said while thrusting the dress into Tomoyo's hand.

She looked at me thoughtfully. "Ying Fa, huh? What is it supposed to mean?"

"I'm guessing it's my name in Chinese."

"How can you be so sure? He could be calling you a _carrot_ for all you know." She ducked under a pillow that I sent flying towards her.

She remained silent for a while. "You like him, don't you?"

I shook my head in indignation. "How many times do we have to go over this, Tomoyo? I don't like Syaoran."

"Who said anything about Syaoran?" She smirked.

I blinked & stared at her. I remembered the protective urge I had felt towards Syaoran during dinner, and then the want to slap Meiling when she had carried out her little 'plan'.

Had I fallen for him that fast? Maybe it was just a crush or infatuation. It was hard not to develop feelings for Li Syaoran.

A knock on the door of my room jerked me out my thoughts. I opened it to find a very angry, scowling Meiling, who I observed had changed back to her own clothes.

"Hey there, Ying Fa."

"Um...hi Meiling." I said, meekly.

* * *

"...and here I was wondering why you were so keen to remain in the library when you don't even _read_!" 

"Umm-I-er..."

"So, what did you do, huh? Turn on your hidden charms? Presented him with some ragged old stuffed toy? God knows what he saw in you that he doesn't see in me."

"Self restraint" said Tomoyo, who had till now been watching this very much one-sided argument, as if really enjoying herself.

Meiling stared at her. "Self restraint? What self restraint? If there's someone who doesn't have self restraint it's her." She retorted pointing at me. "She knew that I was interested in Syaoran. But she just had to butt in and put the moves on him before I even had a chance to!"

"Oh, you got plenty of chances Meiling, and you used them to your best. It was just that the results were not-well-satisfactory enough for you."

I looked at Tomoyo gratefully. For the majority of the conversation, I had been cowering from Meiling, trying hard to get my vocal chords to function. But now Tomoyo seemed to be dealing with Meiling's outburst quite effectively. She was now reduced to opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, not knowing what to say.

"And if I remember well," Tomoyo continued. "you already have a boyfriend. It's time you let Sakura have one for herself."

Meiling's eyes travelled from Tomoyo to me, and then narrowed. "Oh I see," she finally said. "Fine then. I'll let Sakura have her chance as well. But that does NOT mean that I'm giving up."

She walked up to me and brought her face close, so much so that her nose was merely an inch apart from mine. "I. Declare. War. And may the best girl get the guy." I visibly gulped.

"You may have got a one up over me Sakura, but I'm still very much in the game." She said before walking out of the room and shutting the door with a bang.

"Oh my! It's a catfight between the Plain Jane and Miss Popular for the hot guy!" Tomoyo exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. "This is going to be so much _fun_!"

I stared at my sister helplessly and gulped again. What had I gotten myself into?


	8. Homework & makeout sessions

**Chapter 8: Homework & make-out sessions**

Almost a week had passed since my confrontation with Meiling. She hardly spoke to me nowadays. And even though it hurt me sometimes, (she is my sister after all) I actually preferred it that way.

Two days back, I had heard from one of those gossiping fellow cheerleaders of hers that she had officially broken up with Suzuki Riyu. "My, my," Tomoyo had said after hearing this piece of news. "She really is quite serious about what she said."

Syaoran kept to himself most of the time. He was one of the brightest students in the class, but remained a mystery to most of his classmates. Meiling had given up trying to seduce him with her 'conventional' methods after the disastrous results, and had now resorted to being a little less obvious with her flirting. She was pretending to be interested in him only as a 'friend', but going out of the way just to talk to him or be around him.

She had been delighted when he was selected during the tryouts for the new basketball team. It obviously meant that she would be able to spend more time with him, even outside school hours, she being a cheerleader. He however, was still apprehensive about her and tried his best to avoid her.

I, on my part, hardly talked to Syaoran, to Tomoyo's immense frustration. I just didn't know what to say to him, and I was still not clear about my feelings for him, or whether I even had any.

Tomoyo on the other hand, was over enthusiastic about the 'challenge' or 'war' or whatever you want to call it. She was trying her best to set me up with Syaoran.

Like the other day, when I was trying in vain to solve a Math problem, she went like- "Syaoran, Sakura's not able to do this sum. Could you help her out?"

And then he came over to my seat & patiently explained it to me. But I didn't understand a word of it as half the time I was blushing and thinking how close he was to me.

"Hopeless," Tomoyo had then said. "You are hopeless, Sakura."

But the problem was that ever since that incident, all the girls went only to Syaoran with their doubts, no matter how silly they were.

* * *

It was Friday afternoon, and Meiling was staying back for cheerleading practice. I waited for Tomoyo by the school gate, and smiled when I saw her coming towards me, waving. 

She hummed as we walked back home and looked immensely pleased with herself for some reason. Immediately danger signals flashed all around my mind.

"You-umm-seem very happy, Tomoyo. What's up?" I asked nervously.

She looked at me and flashed me a big grin. "I called Eriol over for a homework session."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't very fond of Eriol coming over to our house. But I had been expecting something much worse after seeing that look on Tomoyo's face...

"And I told him to bring Syaoran along as well." She added, almost skipping as she walked.

* * *

"Can you believe her Kero? She's started with her matchmaking thing again. She has no right! Why does she think she has control over my love life?" I ranted on to my pet cat, who was the only one who would listen. I sat on the bed and sighed. "Yeah I know, I don't have a love life." I looked at him. He was now busy licking himself clean. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, why am I even _telling_ you this?" 

I collected my books and walked out of my room into Tomoyo's. I placed them on the study table, sitting next to Eriol. Syaoran, who was flipping through one of his books, looked up & gave me a small smile.

I jumped when something soft & furry tickled my toes. "Kero! Why do you always have to scare me like that?" I scolded my pet lurking under the table.

Eriol smirked. "Why Sakura? Still haven't got over your fright after watching that movie?"

I shuddered remembering the night when Eriol & Tomoyo had forced me to watch that horror movie with them two weeks back. "Don't remind me of it."

Eriol chuckled. "Are you scared the monster would be hiding under the table, waiting to grab you?" He leaned closer. "Or maybe under your bed? Emerging slowly when you are sleeping..."

I shut my eyes. "Please Eriol. Stop it."

"...and then you wake up to find the monster leaning towards you, with its jaws wide open, and teeth pointing out..."

"What would _you_ know about the monster in that movie anyways?" I snapped, trying anything to make him shut up. "You spent half the time sucking Tomoyo's face off." Syaoran laughed, and I felt a sudden jolt in my stomach.

Eriol looked away, a light pink tinge to his cheeks. My attention on Syaoran was immediately distracted by shock at the other boy's reaction. He had blushed. I had actually made _Eriol_ blush!

"Hmm...what's that in his mouth?" Eriol quickly said to change the subject. I saw that he was pointing to Kero, who I noticed had the stuffed bear in his mouth.

"He really seems to like that." Syaoran observed.

"He's obsessed with it." I muttered, snatching the bear from his mouth.

"Sakura, can I see that?" I turned to look at Eriol who had his hand outstretched. I gave it to him and saw him observing it carefully. He smiled. "This is mine." He said, looking up. "Where did you find it?"

"So, this isn't yours?" Syaoran asked.

I shook my head. "Kero picked it up from somewhere."

"My housekeeper had thrown this in the trash." Eriol said. "It's worthless. I had bought it at a fair two years back, from this gypsy woman. She said it helps you in finding your 'perfect match' or something. But it's supposed to work only once." He smiled. "All nonsense of course. I don't know what made me buy it. Guess it was because I was feeling lonely at that time." He handed the stuffed toy back to me. "Few months later I met Tomoyo. But I don't think this had anything to do with it."

_Perfect match_...I blushed remembering the day I had found it in Kero's mouth and ended up meeting Syaoran. I tried not to look at him, but I felt his gaze on me. I wondered what he was thinking...

"Here, cookies for everyone." Tomoyo announced as she emerged from the kitchen, and placed a jar on the table. I stole a glance towards Syaoran, hoping that he wasn't looking. But I found that he was and our eyes met for the briefest second before I looked away.

It wasn't long before Eriol & Tomoyo started with their flirting and eventual kissing. I rolled my eyes. This was becoming so cliché- their homework sessions turning into make-out sessions.

Syaoran looked up from his homework at the couple, distractedly. "Erm...maybe we should just leave these two alone."

I stood up. "Yeah. Good idea. How about we go to my room?"

I blinked, surprised at myself. Did I actually say that? I really seemed to be on a roll today.

"Ok." He agreed, getting up from the chair.

* * *

I was suddenly very conscious of the disorderliness of my room, right from my bed which wasn't made properly to the books & papers strewn around on my desk. I quickly tried to arrange them to make some place for us to it. But in my nervousness all I managed to do was spill the papers on to the floor. 

"I'll help you with that." Syaoran said, bending beside me and picking them up.

To my horror, I saw that one of my very 'secret' photos had fallen right at his feet. Before I could react, he picked it up and flipped it around. He arched an eyebrow. "Boyfriend?" he asked lightly looking at me. I saw something in his eyes. Disappointment? Jealousy? I couldn't quite place it.

But when the meaning of his question registered in my mind, I felt my cheeks getting warm.

"Oh, sorry. I guess it was too personal-"

"No!" I interrupted, almost yelling. "I- It's ok. That's Yukito, and well- he's not my boyfriend." I said, trying not to look at him. "He-he was my first crush."

"So, what happened?"

I frowned. "He turned out to be gay."

For a moment he stared at me. Then he burst out laughing. I again felt that familiar jolt in my stomach. But I frowned and folded my arms, trying to look annoyed.

"Sorry. I just couldn't stop myself," he finally said apologetically. Then he looked at me and smiled, and whatever little anger I had felt towards him, went ebbing out of me. "That must have been very embarrassing for you."

"You have no idea." I mumbled, remembering that day when I had confessed my feelings to Yukito and he had politely explained that he was a gay. And I hadn't understood what he had meant, as the only meaning of gay I knew at that point was 'happy'. And I had said, confused- 'I know you're gay, Yukito. So am I.'

Ok. No. I shouldn't have remembered that. Now that's going to haunt me for the whole of next week.

"So you still like him?"

I saw his unreadable eyes boring into mine. "Yeah, kind of. He was the only guy who treated me like I existed. Apart from Eriol of course... and now- you."

I stood up and arranged my desk. We remained silent for a while.

"Do you hate that?" he suddenly asked getting up as well.

"Hate what?"

"You know, being sidelined and ignored-"

"I don't know. I guess I'm used to it."

He sighed. "I sometimes wish I were in your place. I hate all the unnecessary attention. I mean, why can't those girls just leave me alone?"

"You mean, like my sister?" I asked. He smiled sheepishly. "You don't like her much do you?"

He ran his hand through his hair and mumbled-"She, well, she kind of scares me."

"Scares you?" I asked incredulously.

"She reminds me of my sisters." he said. "You saw them, they just love to pick on me and tease me, especially in front of others. They even pull my cheeks sometimes! They are just so- imposing. It gives me a complex. And they scare me."

"So how does Meiling remind you of them?" I asked, trying not to laugh out when I imagined him having his cheeks pulled.

"Uh- you know she's just so air headed and flirty and boisterous. Very much like my sisters. Plus she even pulled my cheek after basketball practice, saying I was 'cute'. That seriously freaked me out."

I couldn't control my laughter after hearing that. Meiling was really trying extremely hard. "Well, Meiling scares me too."

He looked up at me. "I realised that much."

"And so does Tomoyo. She thinks she's the self appointed manager of my social life or something."

"Well I think she's just trying to help you come out of your shell. You know, you're always so aloof."

"Right, and you're such a _socialising_ guy."

"My case is different. I like to be alone, coz otherwise I find myself attacked by a swarm of girls."

"And I like to be alone as I'm a plain Jane and people leave me alone themselves."

I saw his lips curving upwards and forming into a full smile. I felt my breath hitch- it was the first time I had seen him give anyone a full smile. "We have so much in common, even though we're so different." He said softly. "And I don't think you're a 'plain Jane'. You are different, very different from all the girls I've met so far." I dropped my gaze and blushed. That was the first time a guy had ever said anything nice to me. Well apart from Yukito and Eriol, of course. But you couldn't count them really.

I jumped when the door suddenly opened. "Sakura, do you have my-" But the rest of the words died on her lips. I turned to see an open mouthed Meiling standing in her cheerleading uniform.

"M-Meiling you're back from your practice." Was all I could say in my shock. I hadn't heard her coming into the house.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said finally regaining her composure. "I think I ruined your moment" With that she went out of the room, but not before she gave me one of her death glares. If looks could kill...


	9. Confrontations & revelations

**Chapter 9: Confrontations and revelations**

"That's it? That's all that happened!" Tomoyo exclaimed, almost in indignation.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You didn't even kiss?"

I rolled my eyes. "There you go with your matchmaking again. You know, you should seriously take a week off and give it a rest."

"But Sakura, it's so obvious. The guy's interested in you!"

"Right," I said sarcastically. "He probably just pities me or something."

"Pities you! That's ridiculous. If he just pities you or something, as you put it, he wouldn't be calling you Ying Fa."

I blinked and looked mutely at Tomoyo's smirking face.

"Plus, you're the only girl he ever talks to properly." She continued

"Well, I don't fall all over him like the other girls..."

"Exactly," Tomoyo said, "That's why he likes you. Maybe not in a lovey- dovey way, but as a friend, maybe more. And he wants to get close to you and know you better."

I stood there in her room as my sister's words sank into my mind. But I kept quiet.

"So you should allow him to get close. Grab him with both hands and never let him go!" she said forcefully.

"So you're suggesting I should lower myself to the level of Meiling?"

Tomoyo sighed and shook her head. "Sakura, trying to get the guy you like is not 'lowering yourself to the level of Meiling'." She paused and looked at me. "You do like Syaoran, don't you?"

"Yes...I mean NO..."

"Sakura you have to pick one option- Yes or No."

I bit my lip and stared at her. "I...I don't know."

I sat on my bed, thinking about my talk with Tomoyo. 'If he just pities you or something, as you put it, he wouldn't be calling you Ying Fa'

He hadn't called me Ying Fa ever since that dinner at the Li mansion. He never got a chance to say my name- I never gave him a chance.

It sounded ridiculous- he was trying to get close to me and I was running away from him.

Why? I had no idea. Was I shy? Was I scared? Or had I fallen for him?

Maybe it was all three...

I remembered the smile he had given me last evening, and I found my breath hitch again.

I knew I was naïve and clueless. But I finally realised that I had fallen for Li Syaoran. It was a small crush, but it was a crush, nonetheless...

The sound of the door opening broke me out of my thoughts.

"Dreaming about your non-existent boyfriend." It was Meiling.

I suddenly felt annoyed at her. "Don't you know how to knock?" I retorted, surprising both myself and my sister.

"Oh, so gloating over your little victory. But remember- you haven't won..."

"Oh, stop it Meiling. You are the one who started this 'war' or whatever you call it and I'm getting tired of it. Just give it a break." I interrupted her, seeming to have grown some new confidence out of nowhere. "And I'm not gloating."

She seemed to be taken aback by my answer. But she quickly recovered. "So are you saying you're giving up?" She asked slyly.

"No way!" I exclaimed.

"Good, coz I just came to say that since you've made your first move, I'm now going to make mine. Tomorrow." She tossed her hair back and continued airily. "And you better know this- you are dealing with Kinomoto Meiling. And Kinomoto Meiling does not give up!" With that she went out of the room.

I stared at the place where she had been standing moments ago, wondering what she was planning. Though I knew all her earlier plans had ended in disaster, I had a very bad feeling about this one...


	10. The Assignment

**Chapter 10: The assignment**

'Since you've made your first move, I'm now going to make mine. Tomorrow.'

Meiling's words from last evening echoed in my mind. When did I make my move, I wondered, when all along I had been trying to do something of the opposite. She on the other hand was about to make her, how much was it, _398th_ move in a span of two weeks.

"Oh well..." I sighed as I stuffed my homework into my bag. I wondered if I stood a chance against Meiling...But then Syaoran hardly noticed her. And he had even admitted that she scared him.

But Meiling was a pretty girl...and Syaoran was just another teenage guy...

Wasn't he?

* * *

As I walked towards my class with Tomoyo I noticed Meiling talking intently to Mrs.Amano. She had a smile on her face very much like the ones that she uses while flirting with guys. I frowned, wondering what she was up to. However Tomoyo didn't seem to find any thing unusual and walked on. 

I entered the class to find Syaoran talking quite interestedly to Takeshi, who was no doubt filling him with his weird nonsensical stories. But I widened my eyes in surprise- that was the time I had seen Syaoran talking to anyone properly, other than Tomoyo or me. Feeling my eyes on him, he looked up and smiled. I smiled back, and for the first time I didn't blush.

He soon came over to us and said a small 'hi'. "Hey Syaoran, what's up? You seem to be in a good mood today." Tomoyo noticed.

"Yeah, sort of. I was just trying to be more-er-socializing..." he said running a hand through his hair and throwing a glance at me. I stared at him- was he actually taking that comment of mine seriously?

"I'm trying you know-" he continued, turning to me. "maybe it's time for you to come out of your...shell." He looked at me earnestly. Looking at the sincerity in his eyes I had a mad urge to hug him and give him a kiss...

The thought of kissing made my face burn and I looked away, mentally cursing myself, to find Tomoyo sitting with a self-satisfied smirk on her face, as though she'd just won a prize or something.

"I..." I opened my mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the sight of Mrs.Amano entering the class followed by Meiling, who had a self-satisfied smirk, identical to Tomoyo's.

I shuddered at how similar my sisters could be sometimes...

* * *

"An assignment?" 

Mrs.Amano eyed Chiharu through her round glasses. "That's right Miss Mihara. An assignment for extra credit. Since I see you've all managed to perform so _miserably_ in the last test." At this she directed her gaze towards me and I felt my face getting hot. It was _not _my fault! Argh! I HATE math.

"You're all to work in pairs. Your partners have been chosen in alphabetical order." She continued, picking up a bunch of papers from her desk and distributing them. "The topic you have to work and the name of your assigned partner are given on this sheet."

Alphabetical order...that would mean my partner is...Meiling. I gulped at the thought of working with her.

I gazed at the sheet our math teacher handed me- _'Make a report on the theories, distributions and applications of Probability.'_ I rolled my eyes. I'll surely get an A on this one, I thought sarcastically. I would rather she had told me to write an essay in _Greek_.

But then my eyes stopped at my assigned partner- Kinomoto Tomoyo.

I blinked. That was not possible. In alphabetical order Meiling's name came before mine. So I should be paired with her and Tomoyo should be paired with...

"Excuse me, Mrs.Amano. I think there's been a mistake. My partner should be Tomoyo, but here it's written Kinomoto Meiling..." Everyone stared at Li Syaoran who was standing at his seat with a frown on his face.

She looked at him. "No Mr. Li there has been no mistake."

"But-"

"Are you trying to contradict me?"

"No, I-"

"Then please sit down before I change my mind to give you any marks at all." She said with finality. She met Meiling's gaze and I saw her lips curving upwards slightly- and _that_- that was definitely a wink!

It became quite obvious as to what they had been _discussing _before the class and I felt my loathing for my maths teacher increase tenfold. And I had a powerful urge to shake Meiling hard by the shoulders and wipe that stupid smirk off her face.

* * *

I made my way fast towards my locker, glad to leave a worked-up Tomoyo behind, as we had to go to different classes. I suddenly stopped dead on hearing a familiar voice. 

"I know you don't like me very much and I don't blame you. I have been a bit of a bitch with you, actually." It was Meiling, talking to a frowning Syaoran, who was leaning against his locker.

"And I'm sorry about that. I was hoping that being paired together would help us to put away our differences and know each other better." I rolled my eyes. It was so _obvious_ that this was a practised speech.

"I was being stupid all this time. You see, you're the only guy who's ever resisted me, so I just had to take up that challenge..." She added with one of her over-used charming smiles.

Syaoran managed a weak smile. "Well since we have to work together so..." he trailed of. "So where can we work? At your place?"

"Oh no. No way. I suggest yours. You have a big library don't you?"

"Yeah. Fine, I guess..." For some reason he seemed disappointed. "Well see you then." He said before walking away.

Meiling jumped and clapped. "Wow, this is great! This plan is working just great!" She twirled and spotted me and her face twisted into a triumphant smirk.

"So Sakura, met your match at last."

"He'll never fall for you." I said trying hard to suppress my hand from slapping her on the face.

"We'll see about that won't we?" she said, lazily admiring her nails. "Now that I get to spend so much time with him...alone."

"You know this was really low, even for you. Making your own teacher set you up with guys."

"Advantages of being the teacher's pet, you see." She tossed her hair back and chuckled. "Well now you can go looking for some other guy to drool over. Syaoran is soon going to be mine." She laughed and strode off.

I felt anger and frustration build inside me. Anger at my teacher and my sister for being such scheming---- Frustration at Syaoran for being so naïve and believing Meiling, even allowing her to come to his house. And most of all I felt anger towards myself for doing nothing about it.


	11. Back at the Li mansion 1

**Chapter 11: Back at the Li mansion (Part 1)**

"She has become _obsessed_ with this whole idea," Tomoyo grumbled as she paced around the room. I nodded but didn't say anything.

"I don't think she's even interested in him anymore. She just can't stand _you_, of all people, actually beating her to a guy. And so she's coming up with these elaborate schemes just to satisfy her inflated ego."

I mumbled something which I hoped sounded like I was agreeing.

"You know, it's really not fair to you or Syaoran. God! I can't believe she's actually my sister."

"Hmmm..."

She stopped her pacing to stare at me. And all _you_ are doing about it is sit on your bed and stare out of the window."

I sat up in irritation. "So what do you suppose I should do?"

Tomoyo looked at me carefully. "I have a plan. And it just might work- if you help," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What plan?"

"Tonight we enter Meiling's room, quietly, and..."

"And?"

"...and kill her..."

I rolled my eyes. "Great 'plan', Tomoyo, couldn't have come up with a better one myself."

She smiled & shrugged. "Well, I see no other way to stop Meiling's date with Li Syaoran."

"I don't think she'll try anything, after all her previous attempts never really worked."

"Oh please Sakura, this is _Meiling_ we are talking about. She'll stoop to anything."

I flopped back onto the bed. "Yeah, maybe you're right."

Tomoyo resumed her pacing and narrowed her eyes, as if thinking of some war strategy. "But we'll never get to know what she's actually planning, unless we actually get to see it."

I frowned. "You mean you want to spy on her?"

She suddenly stopped pacing and widened her eyes. "Of course! I've got it. Mrs. Li!"

"Mrs. Li? What...?" was all I could speak before she ran out of the room.

* * *

"Sakura, we're going to the Li mansion tomorrow at 5, same time when Meiling is." I turned my attention away from the T.V. to look at an excited Tomoyo. I blinked. 

"What? We can't just barge in there and start spying on them."

"No we can't. And we aren't. We've got an invitation from Li Yelan, "she said triumphantly.

I stared. "_Li Yelan_? Li Yelan has called us to _spy_ on Meiling?"

She laughed. "No you silly girl. Do you remember- during that dinner, Mrs. Li had said that she wanted to see my designs? Well, I called her up and told her that I was ready to show them to her. And guess what! She agreed, saying that I could bring them in anytime. So now we're going tomorrow to see what that sister of ours is planning."

I thought about what she had said. "But you would be busy showing Mrs. Li the designs..."

"Exactly, _I_ will be busy. _You_ won't. You can just make some excuse that you want to check out the library or something- those two are bound to be there- and if things go too much out of control- well you know what I mean- just walk right in."

I gulped at the evil glint in Tomoyo's eyes. "No Tomoyo. No way. You can't expect me to spy on them. It's just too low, and it's too...too _Meiling_..."

"Sakura, come on..."

"No, Tomoyo. I'm not going to do it. And when I say no, I _mean_ no."

* * *

"Please come in young ladies. Mistress is waiting for you," Mr Wei led us into the elaborately decorated living room of the Li mansion. "Make yourself comfortable. I'll inform her of your arrival." he said before disappearing through a door. 

I sighed as I sat down on the sofa and glanced at Tomoyo's grinning face and the designs in her hand. I couldn't believe I had actually agreed to this! Spying on Meiling & Syaoran- and that too with _Kero_. Tomoyo had insisted that I bring him along for _moral support_. Easy for her to say. She wasn't the one doing the spying. 'This plan is going to end in disaster' I thought, looking down at my pet cat.

I noticed something brown sticking out of his mouth. "Kero! Not again. Why can't you leave that thing alone?" I sighed in exasperation.

Tomoyo looked at me. "What?"

"He's got that stuffed bear along with him." I muttered.

She giggled. "You mean the one that helps you find your 'perfect match'? Eriol's bear, isn't it?"

I felt my cheeks going pink. "Yeah, whatever. He said that was all nonsense anyway." I said, trying to brush the matter aside.

"You know, maybe it's a good sign. It could be your lucky charm."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me you believe in all that junk."

Before she could answer, Mr. Wei entered the room and bowed. "Young ladies, mistress has said she would like to meet you in her work room." We stood up. "Please follow me."

He led us up a staircase and into another room whose wall were pinned up with all kinds of dress designs. In the centre of the room sat Li Yelan and two of her daughters- Xiefa and Fei-Mei, who seemed to be busy sifting through sketches of various dresses.

Yelan looked up at us and smiled. "Ah Tomoyo, and –er-"

"Sakura." I said, feeling a bit hurt- she didn't even remember my name.

"Oh yes- Sakura..." she said. "Your other sister came few minutes back- what's her name- Megami?"

"Meiling." Tomoyo answered, grinning, and I felt slightly better- she didn't remember Meiling's name either.

"Yes, Meiling," Mrs. Li frowned. "Quite a _coincidence _that she & Xiao Lang ended up as partners for an assignment."

Fei-Mei was smirking. "It's a surprise really, he's never called a girl over to the mansion before. I wonder _what's _going on..."

I felt my heart sink on hearing that- was he actually interested in her? But he had said...

"Fei-Mei, concentrate on your work." Yelan said scowling. She obviously didn't approve of her son & Meiling together. Well, at least we had one thing in common.

"Where are Fan-Ren & Fuutie?" Tomoyo asked.

"They've gone to the mall. That's where they always go every Saturday." Xiefa replied.

"And empty half of mom's bank account." Fei-Mei giggled.

Yelan raised an eyebrow at them, and then turned to Tomoyo with a smile. "So let's see your designs."

She eagerly handed the file to her. "Well this is just the summer wear collection."

"They are beautiful." Yelan said, and Tomoyo glowed. "For someone your age, you are indeed very talented."

Tomoyo smiled and then looked at me with a knowing glance. "Umm...Mrs. Li..."

"Yelan, call me Yelan..."

"Uh- Yelan- er I was wondering if Sakura could use your library. You see even we have to do an assignment, so..."

"Sure," Yelan smiled and then turned to me. "Go ahead Sakura. Xiao Lang & your sister are already there."

* * *

I walked towards what I remembered as the general direction of the library, Kero trotting behind me. I had a very bad feeling about this whole plan of Tomoyo. Part of me was itching to find out what Meiling was up to and the other part was dreading what I would see or hear. 

I was quite close to the library when I started hearing faint voices. I stopped dead- that had to be Meiling and Syaoran. I craned my ears trying to hear what they were talking...


	12. Back at the Li mansion 2

**Chapter 12: Back at the Li mansion (Part 2)**

The voices became louder as I approached the library. I stopped near the door, praying that no one would catch me eavesdropping on the two, and tried hard to catch what they were speaking so rapidly. It was almost as if they were...

..._fighting?_

"...never give up, do you?"

"No, I didn't mean to, it was..."

"You mean everything you do Kinomoto. You think of yourself as some master _seductress_ or something. Well, let me tell you- not every guy is interested in you."

"I'm sorry if you took this in another way, but I just want us to be friends..."

"And you expect me to believe _that_- after the way you behaved at that dinner, and now today- you took advantage of my friendly invitation."

"Syaoran, I..."

"It's Li for you." He said coolly. "And stop pursuing me. But I am not sure if you'll stop even now, since obviously you don't understand the meaning of no."

I stood in the hallway, with my eyes wide. I had never heard Syaoran talk to anyone like that. His voice was so cold, so indifferent- it almost made me shiver. I wondered what Meiling had done, for Syaoran to tell her off like that.

It took some time for me to realise that someone was coming out of the library- I could hear footsteps. And I was still standing there, with my pet cat, for the whole world to see that I had been listening to their conversation.

I panicked. There was no place in the hallway to hide and the only way out was to run. I turned, preparing to flee, when the library door opened and-

"Sakura?"

I turned back to find a surprised Syaoran standing wide-eyed. For some reason I felt a sinking sensation, but I brushed it aside. "Umm...hi Syaoran."

"What are you doing here?" he asked. From the corner of my eye I saw Meiling coming out of the library. I didn't dare look at her face, but I could feel her heated glare. She obviously realised I had heard everything.

"Er- I– umm-came with Tomoyo. She wanted to show her designs to Mrs. Li. And I came here to-er-work on my assignment..."

"Oh..." he said. He stared at the floor and opened his mouth as if wanting to say something. Then he frowned and glanced at Meiling, before walking off. I suddenly felt very empty and cold, as I watched his retreating figure.

Meiling walked up to me, her glare still fixed on my face. "You _conniving_ little bitch. You were spying on us, weren't you?" she spat. I looked at my sister and gasped. Her eyes were red and watery- she was crying. I had never seen Meiling cry before. And I just couldn't help feeling sorry for her.

"I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not. Don't try to act all innocent with me. I know that you are jumping with joy inside." She sneered. "Look- my pretty, popular sister just got rejected by a guy. And I saw it and heard it, and had so much fun laughing my head off."

I suddenly felt very guilty- it was wrong of me to have listened to them. "Meiling, I-"

"Oh, please Sakura. I'm not interested in hearing your explanations." She wiped her tears off and regained her composure. She looked at me coldly. "You may be celebrating thinking you have me out of the way now. But you haven't exactly hit it off with Syaoran either." She smirked. "Its so obvious from the way he treats you- he just pities you, as you don't have any friends. And you're just too thick to realise that." She suddenly laughed her airy, boisterous laugh, which always got on my nerves, and I found it hard to imagine that she had actually been crying 2 minutes back. "You actually think he's interested in you in that way? God, you are clueless, Sakura." She then flashed me one of her plastic smiles and strode off.

'Pities me? If he just pities me, he wouldn't be calling me-' I had wanted to say to her. But then it struck me- the reason why I had felt that strange sinking sensation when Syaoran had called me---Sakura.

Not Ying Fa.

* * *

I scanned the bookshelves. Trying hard to remember the topic of my assignment- report on the theories, applications and something of something. But all I could think of was what had happened and what Meiling had said.

_Pities me._ It was kind of odd that I had thought of the same thing, but Tomoyo had dismissed it, saying that he wouldn't be calling me...

Why had he called me Sakura? Was he angry that I had been hearing everything?

"Aaarrgh!" I screamed. And why was I getting bothered at such a small thing? Maybe it was just a slip of the tongue.

I shook my head to clear it of all thoughts and brought my attention back to the assignment. I don't have to think of all that right now...

But what if Meiling was right? What if Syaoran just saw me as a friend? Then what if he came to know I have a crush on him?

"Oh Kero, I don't know what to think." I said looking down at him. He yawned and started licking himself clean. I rolled my eyes and sat down on a stool placed near the bookshelves. "I wonder when Tomoyo will be free. I _need_ to talk to her."

"Uh, Sakura..." came a familiar male voice from the door of the library. I stood up but didn't turn around. This time I was sure it wasn't a slip of the tongue.

"Er- your cat- he left this lying on the floor." I turned to find Li Syaoran standing with the worn-out stuffed bear in his hand. I saw Kero looking at it for a moment, then continued cleaning himself as if he had never been interested in it.

I however walked up to Syaoran and took the bear from his hand. I gasped when our hands brushed ever so slightly.

"I had seen it lying on the floor when I had come out of the library after..."he broke off, frowning. "But I thought I'd give it to you later, then I would get a chance to talk to you..."

I felt my eyes go wide and my heart beat quicken. "You wanted to talk to me?"

He smiled slightly. "Yeah. I don't know, I just like our little talks. You know, we have a lot in common, even though we seem so different."

I felt disappointment sweeping through me. Of course, this proved it- he just saw me as a friend.

A moment's silence passed between us before he suddenly said- "So, how much did you hear?"

I was totally caught off-guard by the question. "Nothing!" I answered too quickly. He raised an eyebrow and I sighed. "Yeah, well maybe I heard _something_..." I bit my lip. "Are you mad at me?" I asked desperately, avoiding his eyes.

He laughed. "Why would I be mad at you? It's not as if you were there on purpose." I felt a stab of guilt. _No, I was there on purpose- I was spying on you two_, I wanted to tell him but just couldn't get myself to.

"The only person I'm mad at is that sister of yours." He continued.

I looked up. I was dying to know what Meiling had done this time. The question was almost on my lips, but I thought better of it. But I still wondered- had she fallen on his lap accidentally again? Or tried to forcibly kiss him? Or molest him? I shuddered at the mental images.

The protective urge I always felt for Syaoran returned in full force. I wanted to hug him tightly and order him never to go near Meiling again. But all I managed to say was-"I'm sorry about Meiling. She-she just..."

"It's okay, Sakura. I know- she just takes me for some challenge, and quite persistent isn't she?"

I felt the some sinking sensation. Sakura...again. Why?

"Why what?"

I mentally slapped myself- had I said that 'why' out loud? I saw Syaoran staring at me questioningly, and I blushed. "Why- why did you call me Sakura?"

He frowned in confusion and then smiled, after understanding what I meant. "So you want me to call you Ying Fa?"

I looked away, feeling my face burn. "I-I was just curious..."

"I got the feeling you didn't like the name," he said looking at me keenly.

"What! No, I love it!" I said without thinking. "I mean-I-" I cursed myself inwardly, for behaving like such an idiot before him.

He laughed again and I felt my insides turning into mush. "It was your sister, Meiling- she said she heard you saying you hated that name. Oh well, I should never really have believed her. Sometimes I'm just too trusting, or as my sisters put it- naïve."

I heard Kero yawning softly and I looked at him. "I was being stupid by allowing her to come over to my house," he frowned. Then he continued softly "I-I was hoping that you would come with her. I never get a chance to be with you alone nowadays..." Was I just imagining it or were his cheeks slightly red? "Well, the plan worked, didn't it?"

_Be alone with me?_ My eyes immediately shot up to Syaoran's face. His eyes were fixing me with a gaze which sent shivers down my spine. "Why does everyone call you the plain Jane. You are very different from those other shallow girls." He leaned in close. "You are beautiful in your own way...and so are your eyes...green eyes...so rare...Ying Fa" I felt my eyelids getting heavy and I prayed that he couldn't hear my heartbeat which had quickened to a thousand per minute.

My breath hitched when he leaned in even closer, so much so that I could inhale his scent.

And I forgot how to breathe when his lips touched mine.


	13. Complications & misunderstandings

**Chapter 13: Complications and misunderstandings**

I stared at the book in front of me, as I had been doing for the past 30 minutes. The black letters written across the pages made no sense to me. I idly wondered how complicated things had gotten in a span of 2 minutes.

It had all started a week ago, when I had my first 'kiss' from Syaoran, well if you could call it a kiss. It had lasted for about 3 seconds- that's right- 3 seconds- before a red-faced Syaoran suddenly pulled away, his eyes wide, muttered something on the lines of sorry, and ran away- leaving me totally confused.

And as I stood there in the library my confusion turned to hurt. Had he expect me to react and kiss him back? But I barely got the chance to recover from the shock...

Or maybe it had been a mistake... but how could you kiss someone by mistake? Then why? Was I that repulsive or something? The thought made my heart cringe.

He even started avoiding me at school. He would never look at me and always kept his face down. If by some chance our eyes met, he would look away immediately, for some reason, a pink tinge on his cheeks.

And of course, to top it all, Meiling had to go ahead and notice something was wrong.

She had recovered quite quickly from Syaoran's telling-off and was back to being her air-headed self again, looking very pleased whenever she noticed the awkwardness between Syaoran and me. I wanted nothing more than to wipe that stupid look off her face. And if the rumours were true, she had got back with her ex- what's-his-name. I never talked to her these days, and I didn't want to.

In fact I didn't want to talk to anyone- even Tomoyo. She had asked me every detail of what had happened when I had been eaves-dropping. And I had told her everything, including what I had heard in the library, but left out the last part- about our 'talk'. Tomoyo had been delighted to hear that Meiling no longer had a chance with Syaoran, and I wished I could share the feeling. I wished Syaoran had never approached me and the kiss had never happened.

But Tomoyo being Tomoyo definitely saw that everything wasn't right. When she saw that we were avoiding each other, she couldn't help frowning. And seeing that frown I knew that one of these days she was going to grab a chance to confront me.

* * *

I opened the door to be welcomed by a not-so-welcome sight- Meiling making out on the couch with her boyfriend. Feeling repulsed, I quickly shoved Kero in and closed the door.

Meiling's eyes opened at the sound and she looked at me. I caught her look and it became obvious what she was trying to say- 'I have a boyfriend and you don't!'

I had the urge to say- 'But you don't have Syaoran!' But another thought made stop from saying it- neither did I.

Feeling a wave of nausea wash over me, I quickly left the living room and entered my room. I was surprised to find Tomoyo sitting there, on my bed.

"Sakura, we need to talk."

* * *

"He _said_ that?"

I nodded dumbly, a hint of color on my cheeks.

"He said he liked being _alone_ with you? And you didn't even _tell_ me?" Tomoyo gasped out, her face red from excitement.

"Umm- I"

"And then?"

I blinked. "Then what?"

"Then, _after that_, what happened?" she asked impatiently.

"He-er- he sort of kissed me."

"HE KIS-!" I closed her mouth with my hand before she could scream out the whole sentence. But that didn't stop her from leaping out of the bed in excitement. And the force caused both of us to tumble out and land painfully on the floor.

I groaned. "Tomoyo, you don't have to get all excited- it wasn't that much of a kiss anyway," my voice was bitter, "it was something a brother would give his sister."

"A brother would _never_ kiss his sister." Tomoyo stated, matter-of-factly, an amused smile on her face.

For some reason, I started feeling irritated at her. "Well, you know what I mean, Tomoyo." I felt my voice cracking, a hint of wetness at the corner of my eyes. "I-he- oh Tomoyo, I'm so confused." Unable to control myself, I broke down, venting out the past week's frustration. I didn't want to think I had been rejected- by another guy, by Syaoran. Again.

Tomoyo looked shocked at my outburst. She placed at a hand on my shoulder. "Why? What happened?" she asked, concerned.

"Well he started kissing me, and suddenly he stopped, and then- then he just ran away."

She frowned. "What? Why?"

"I don't know. He's been avoiding me ever since."

"Is that why...?"

"Yes, you saw him. He doesn't even _look_ at me these days." I said desperately.

Tomoyo looked at me carefully. "But why- why would he do that?" She leaned back against the bed post, still frowning, as if in deep thought. And then suddenly she slapped her hand against her forehead, and giggled. "Of course! Oh Sakura, you're so naïve. Both of you. You're so thick, you can't even see- you..." she said between spurts of laughter.

I blinked and looked at her. "What...?" was all I managed.

She swooped down on me and pulled my cheeks. "You're so adorable, so _kawaii_. You'll both make such a cute couple!" That made me widen my eyes even more.

Then without warning she skipped to the door. "I've to go now- got to talk to Eriol." With that she went out of my room, closing the door behind her.

Leaving me even more confused than before.


	14. More complications

**Chapter 14: More complications  
**

I was still trying to figure out what Tomoyo was so excited about yesterday. "You'll make such a cute couple," she had said. I snorted- _as if_. He wasn't even talking to me these days.

I shook my head. I didn't want to think about Syaoran now. In fact, I never wanted to think about Syaoran. Even though it wasn't the first time I was being turned down by my crush...

Turned down...how could I be turned down when I hadn't even told him my feelings in the first place? So does 'being kissed for 3 seconds and then ignored' count to being turned down? And _why_ was Tomoyo so happy when I told her everything?

I couldn't help wondering what she was doing at Eriol's house right now. Probably plotting on how to set me up with Syaoran. I just hope she doesn't end up doing something stupid and embarrass me even more. I wasn't happy with the way things were at present, but I didn't want them to get any worse.

* * *

That evening I was idly surfing through channels on the TV when Tomoyo finally returned from her boyfriend's house. I had expected her to be all chirpy and excited and go like- "Guess who I set you up on a date with? Li Syaoran!" But instead she was very quiet. I switched the TV off and turned to look at her face.I was shocked.

Her face was buried in her hands and it seemed like she was- crying? "Tomoyo? What happened?" I asked softly.

She refused to look at me. "Nothing, I..." Her voice was shaky. "I HATE Hiirigizawa Eriol. I can't believe I dated him." She cried out, stamping her foot on the floor. I didn't miss the past tense.

"Did you guys have a fight?" She nodded. I was surprised- those two _never_ fought.

"Why? Did he say something?"

"Yeah, he..." she trailed off frowning. "Oh forget it Sakura. I don't want to talk about it right now. And I don't _ever_ want to talk to Eriol either." Saying that she walked off towards her room and shut it with a bang. I winced- she didn't have to take out her anger at Eriol on me.

So now even Eriol and Tomoyo, the seemingly _perfect_ couple, were not on speaking terms. I shook my head and sighed- things couldn't get more complicated.

* * *

I hesitantly knocked on Tomoyo's door. "Tomoyo, do you want to talk?" I wasn't very good while talking about feelings and stuff but I owed Tomoyo for helping me out all the time. And I wanted to help her back in whatever way I could.

"No, Sakura go away, stop bothering me" came a muffled answer.

I felt a bit annoyed. That was rude- I was just trying to help. "Fine! Then you can-" My sentence was cut off in the middle by the ringing of the phone. With a last look of irritation at her door, I went to answer the phone.

"Kinomoto residence. Sakura speaking."

"Oh, hi Sakura. Is Tomoyo there?" It was Eriol's voice.

"Tomoyo," I yelled, covering the mouthpiece. "It's Eriol."

"I said I _don't_ want to talk to him." she yelled back

I turned my attention back to the phone. "She...umm--"

"Yeah, I heard that." He sounded dejected.

"What happened between the two of you? What _did_ you say to her?"

"I said- I said that she was, well taking this matchmaking thing a bit too far, and that-umm-that she was obsessed with it."

"You said what?"

"Well, she was. Every other day she would come to my house and go on and on about what a _kawaii_ couple you and Syaoran would make and all you needed was a push in the right direction. So I had enough and said what was in my mind." I heard him sigh through the phone. "I know I shouldn't have said that. But it wasn't _that_ big a deal."

"Wasn't a big deal? Tomoyo wouldn't have felt so bad if it wasn't a big deal." I said, feeling angry at Eriol for hurting Tomoyo like that, even though I silently agreed with Eriol about Tomoyo's obsession with matchmaking.

"You see, I..." There was a pause. "Look, Sakura can we talk somewhere else about this?"

"What? Where?"

"I don't know- in the park maybe? Near the fountain. I'll meet you tomorrow in the evening at around 5."

"But why do _we_ need to talk?"

"Because Tomoyo's not ready to talk to me. Maybe she'll listen to you...well then, see you."

"But, then why..." I heard a click and the line went dead.

I blinked. What did he want to talk to _me_ about? I felt nervous. What was I supposed to say? I really meant it when I said I wasn't good at talking about feelings or sorting out differences between two people, and I didn't want to make things any worse.

And Eriol- the way he had asked made it seem as if he was almost asking me on a...date. I shook my head- _don't be stupid_, I thought, _he just wants to talk to you about Tomoyo. It isn't like a date or anything. You can be so dense sometimes_. But I couldn't shake away the dread that nothing good was going to come out of it.

Did I say things couldn't get more complicated?


	15. With Hiirigizawa Eriol

**Chapter 15: With Hiirigizawa Eriol**

"Where are you going Sakura?" Tomoyo's question caught me off-guard. I looked at her questioning face and tried to smile. "I-er-I was just going out for a walk."

"Walk?" she raised an eyebrow. "Why today specially?"

"Oh, just like that," I blurted out, feeling extremely nervous. "It's a nice day isn't it?" I felt a bit guilty for not telling Tomoyo the truth, but she seemed overly suspicious for some reason. She turned her face away from me, frowning. I shrugged and picked Kero up from the floor. "Come on Kero, let's go."

As soon as I opened the door, I heard Tomoyo speaking to me. "I know where you're going Sakura. You're going to meet Eriol isn't it? He must have asked to act as a mediator between us or something."

I gaped at her. How did she guess? Oh well…I suppose everyone is not as thick as me…

Tomoyo had a calculating look in her eyes. "Since you are going to meet him anyway, tell him to stop taking others' help to talk to me. Can't he act like a man and do it himself?" I saw that even though she was frowning, her lips were twitching slightly upwards. I smiled at her, relieved that she wasn't angry after all. "I'll tell him that." And saying that, I stepped out.

* * *

I reached the meeting place to find Eriol already there, admiring the fountain in the middle of the park. Seeing him I had to admit that Eriol was very good-looking, and I even would have had a crush on him, if it weren't for the fact that he is so…weird. Well, he _is_, at least in my opinion. But I was happy Tomoyo's dating him-they make a very good couple, as Tomoyo herself is very…well, weird.

I giggled and that brought Eriol's attention to me. "What are you giggling at?"

I shook my head. "Nothing." He looked at me sceptically, and after a pause he said. "Hmm…I didn't think you would come, to tell you the truth."

"Why not? It's the first time I have seen you and Tomoyo fight- and that too because of me. I have to set matters right…even though I have no idea how."

At that he chuckled. "Well, you are right," he said, looking at me intently. "It was because of _you_ that we fought, after all. You're responsible for this mess."

"What? Don't put all the blame on me." I immediately felt annoyed at him for saying that. "You were the one who started it with all the 'you're-obsessed-with-matchmaking' thing. You know, it was really rude of you to say that. After all Tomoyo just wanted what she thought was good for me. And god knows what else you said to her, to make her so upset!"

Eriol's eyes widened and he held up his hand. "Hey, calm down. I was just joking. I didn't mean it. I know it's my fault. I shouldn't have said those things to her." He looked shocked at my outburst, and, for a moment, so was I. I wasn't the type to get all offensive on someone, more of a laid back person.

I folded my arms. "So what else did you say to her?"

"I told you on the phone."

"Apart from that."

"Well, I said that for two people as thick as you and Syaoran, a little push (as she had put it) wasn't enough. More like a kick on the backside." He said with a mischievous grin.

"What?" Seeing the expression on my face he burst into laughter. "Sometimes I have to agree with Tomoyo- you are _kawaii_."

I blushed remembering Eriol's earlier statement. He had said it as if Syaoran and I were a predestined couple or something. I turned away and there were a few very awkward moments of silence. Finally I managed to say, "So, why did you call me here?"

"Hmm?" He seemed to have been suddenly lost in his own thoughts. "Oh, yes I…tell me- does Tomoyo know you're here?"

I bit my lip. "Umm…_I_ didn't tell her."

"So I take it that she doesn't know."

"Well, she _might_…"

He narrowed his eyes at me. "I see, so she _does_ know."

"I swear I didn't tell her. I don't know how but she guessed it on her own."

He smiled. "It's okay, I know she's smart." He remained silent for a while. "What did she say?"

"She-er-she said that-well-you should be a man and go and talk to her yourself."

He raised an eyebrow. "But I thought she didn't want to talk to me."

I shook my head in indignation. "You think a fight can be resolved through the phone? You've got to talk face-to-face, you know. I thought you knew that, since you pretend to be the ladies' man all the time."

He stared at me. Then suddenly he grinned. "So you're not so thick after all, are you?" I kept quiet, not knowing what to say. "Thanks. I needed that telling-off. I have been a jerk haven't I?" I nodded. "But your statement…that I _pretend_ to be the ladies' man, let me correct you- I _am_ the ladies' man." I rolled my eyes. "For instance I can make _you_ blush right now." Before I could open my mouth, he took my hand and kissed it. And I predictably went as red as possible. "See?" he said with a superior smirk on his face.

I pulled my hand back. "Whatever. Just keep these charms for Tomoyo. Won't affect me."

"I know." He was again lost in thought for a moment before he grabbed my hand again. "Come with me." He said, walking off and pulling me behind.

"What? Where?"

"To my house."

I had to run to keep up with him, and with the corner of my eye I saw Kero trotting along behind. "Why?"

"I want to show you something."

* * *

It was the first time I had been to Eriol's house and the unfamiliar atmosphere made me feel a bit nervous. I sat on the sofa self-consciously. "So you live here all alone?"

"Yeah." He answered from the kitchen. "Sometimes it gets pretty lonely, but slowly you get used it."

I stood up and walked towards the kitchen. He seemed to be searching for something in one of the cupboards. "What are you doing?"

He looked at me and smiled. "I'm making tea."

"Tea?" I asked incredulously. "I don't need tea."

"Well, _I_ do. I'll just make for myself then."

I blinked. "Umm…you wanted to show me something, right?"

"Hmm…yeah." He said distractedly and looked down at Kero, who was busy searching for something to eat. He bent down and picked up something brown from the floor and held it up questioningly. It was the stuffed bear.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Not _again_, Kero."

Eriol chuckled. He observed it for a moment. "You know, the story about the gypsy-woman giving it to me and all that 'perfect match' thing I told you about?"

I nodded, remembering.

"I made it up."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know, really. I just did, for some reason. Tomoyo's influence, perhaps."

I frowned in confusion. "So this- this isn't yours?" I asked pointing to the stuffed bear. He shook his head.

"Oh." For some odd reason, I felt disappointed. I turned away and spotted a picture of Tomoyo and Eriol cuddling. "Do you love her?"

Eriol seemed to be surprised at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"Tomoyo. I know you like her; she's your girlfriend. But do you _love_ her?"

He stared at me for a moment before answering. "I- I don't know…maybe…" he paused for a moment. "Yes, I think I love her." He smiled at me and I smiled back, feeling happy for my sister, but at the same time, feeling slightly lonely. How I wished there was someone who'd love me like Eriol loves Tomoyo…

"Great, there's no milk. How am I supposed to make tea now?" Eriol's outburst shook me out of my thoughts.

"Er…"

"Look, I'll just go and buy some milk, okay? Do you mind waiting for some time?"

"Well…I'll just go back home now…"

"No, I still haven't shown you what I brought you here for." He smiled. "It will just take a few minutes. After all, I need to make it up to Tomoyo, don't I?"

* * *

I stared at the door, wondering at Eriol's sudden need to have tea. And what exactly did drinking tea have to do with making up to Tomoyo?

It was now more than 10 minutes since he had gone to buy milk. I sighed and went into the kitchen. Maybe I could start off myself. As I started looking for the necessary things, I heard the front door open.

I sighed in relief that he was finally back. I started walking out of the kitchen, when a familiar voice made me stop dead in my tracks. "Eriol? Are you in?"

_No way_, I thought desperately, _don't tell me…_

I came out hesitantly to find a pair of amber eyes staring at me. "Sakura?"

Oh no. Oh no. Now what am I going to do? What am I going to say? How could Eriol leave me here alone when he probably knew that _he_ was going to come? How could he? Or perhaps, that's exactly what he had meant to do…

I bit my lip and looked up. "Hi…Syaoran…"


	16. A long awaited talk

**Chapter 16: A long awaited talk**

Of all the messy, embarrassing situations I've got myself into, this one definitely took the cake. Alone in a house with Li Syaoran…most girls would have died to be in my place right now, but then this situation was different…very different. Now a talk about that 'was-that-a-kiss' incident was inevitable. But maybe I could avoid it if I just ran out of the door, without him noticing…

"What- why are _you_ here?"

I was surprised at the sudden question. "Huh?"

"I mean- you- you've never come to Eriol's house before, right? What are you doing here?" Syaoran was frowning, and it made me a bit nervous.

"I- he called me here." I said quietly.

"Oh." He looked away. "So where's Eriol?"

"Umm…he's gone to buy milk."

"Milk? Then why did he call me here?" His expression was of confusion.

I blinked. "He did?"

"Yeah, just 15 minutes back. He called me up and said he had an 'emergency situation' on his hands and wanted me to come as quickly as possible…"

"WHAT?" I exclaimed. He called Syaoran? I immediately remembered the phone call Eriol had made, a few minutes before staring to make 'tea'. I couldn't hear who he was talking to and I didn't pay much attention at that time.

Finally it all fit. Eriol- that scheming, evil, conniving wstrkf! He had _deliberately_ brought me here, called Syaoran here as well, and gone off to '_buy milk_'. And that's what he had meant by saying 'making up to Tomoyo'. So this is how he wanted to make up to her…by setting me up with…

"Is something wrong?"

I saw Syaoran's amber eyes watching me. "No, he…umm…should be coming any moment." I said, but really didn't believe it myself- I suspected Eriol would not come until Tuesday morning.

"Oh, fine. Then I'll wait." He shrugged and sat down on the sofa.

I stood there, still deciding whether to sit down and risk coming face to face with Syaoran, or go into the kitchen and try to make tea or grab Kero and dash through the door.

"So are you just going to stand there?" Syaoran's question made me feel extremely stupid. He however, was smiling lightly.

"No, I-uh…" I decided to keep my mouth shut and mechanically sat down beside him, avoiding his gaze

"Why did he call you here, by the way?" he asked me.

I looked at him. "He-er-said he wanted to show me something." I answered, inwardly thinking how stupid that sounded.

"_Show_ you something?" Was I imagining it or was his voice sounding slightly…jealous? Don't be stupid Sakura, I thought, you're just imagining things. Why would he be jealous? It's not like he likes you or anything.

I tried to change the subject. "Did Eriol tell you he and Tomoyo had a fight?"

"Yeah…but he didn't tell me why they fought. Did he tell you?

I nodded. "I…" He looked at me questioningly, expecting me to tell him the reason, and I inwardly cursed myself for bringing it up. The answer was of course that he had told Tomoyo that she was obsessed about seeing me and you as a couple. And now he has called you and me together, to make up for what he said.

But of course I couldn't say _that_ to Syaoran. So I said, "Eriol- umm- called Tomoyo fat…yeah…" I inwardly flinched at my pathetic lie.

Syaoran blinked. "He called her _fat_? But why would he say that?"

I shrugged, trying to be casual, but failing miserably. At least I could be thankful that we had not started talking about the 3-sec-kiss-incident and the silent treatment that had followed it… which made me wonder why he was talking to me almost normally now…

Anyway, Syaoran seemed to have believed the story I had made up about Eriol and Tomoyo's fight. He rested his chin on his hand and seemed to be thinking something. A few _very_ awkward moments of silence passed.

"So…"

"So…"

"Umm…I-er…" Syaoran began, a slight pink tinge on his cheeks. He looked directly at me, elbows resting on his knees and head between his hands. He almost looked vulnerable in that position, like he was trying to find words to say something. "I'm sorry," he finally said sighing.

"Huh?" Whatever different things I had imagined him to say, _this_ was not one of them. He was apologizing? "Why?" I blurted out.

He looked surprised at my question. "Well…I'm sorry about that…" he blushed, "about that…stolen kiss…"

I blinked. Once. Twice. "Eh?" was all I managed.

He looked down. "I don't know what came over me that time. Maybe it was because I've been so lonely for such a long time. And then when I realised what I had done, I felt so bad. I couldn't just kiss a girl like that, out of the blue. I knew you would be angry… so I ran away. And I just couldn't face you after that…"

This time I blinked thrice. I was still trying to process what he had said. I felt my cheeks warming when the full meaning of his words set in. So the kiss hadn't been a mistake- he had kissed me knowingly. "So all this time you've been avoiding me because you thought I hated you for kissing me without my permission?"

He nodded, still looking down.

"Not because you find me repulsive?"

This time he looked up at me, and stared. "Why would I think you're repulsive?"

"I…well…er…thought you didn't like me. I thought you kissed me by mistake."

"How can one kiss another by mistake?" I saw a hint of a smile on his face. "So you aren't angry at me for…?" he trailed off.

I shook my head and he seemed visibly relieved. "So all this time it's just been a stupid misunderstanding." He said, now smiling fully.

I felt my heart-beat rise. Syaoran had kissed me purposefully, not by mistake. And he had been avoiding me thinking that I was angry with him. So did that mean that I had a chance- did he like me…?

"You know, both Eriol and Tomoyo are right. We are pretty dense." He chuckled and I smiled.

_Say it, Sakura, say it. Say that you have a crush on him. This is the best opportunity._ A voice inside me said. I gulped, gathering all the courage I had. "Syaoran, I…I didn't mind that you…kissed me..."

"Really?" The surprise and relief in his voice was so evident that I felt my confidence returning.

I nodded. "But I'm angry at you for one thing…" I continued. "Because of you my first kiss lasted for only 3 seconds."

He stared at me. Then he laughed and I felt a familiar jolt near my stomach. "So I was your first kiss?" he asked and I nodded. "I'm glad," he said. "because I find you different from those shallow girls who keep following me around. I like you Sakura." He came closer. "Does that bother you?"

I shook my head and he smiled. I shivered- was he going to kiss me now? Not that I minded…

He gently held a stray lock of hair falling onto my face and tucked it behind my ear. Then he looked directly into my eyes.

"Oh, kiss me already!" I said impatiently, and I immediately widened my eyes when I realised that I had said it out loud. He chuckled at my outburst, and I cursed myself for ruining the moment. "Well, I- I like you too Syaoran." There. I had done it. I had finally said it. That too at Eriol's house, of all places.

'Eriol' immediately reminded me of something. I got up suddenly and headed towards the kitchen. "Sakura?" I heard Syaoran ask in confusion. "Its nothing, I wanted to check something." I replied. I went and opened the fridge. "I knew it!" I exclaimed.

Syaoran came up behind me. "You knew what?"

"That there is milk in here!" I pointed, and sure enough- on one of the racks were kept two bottles full of milk. "This was all a plan of Eriol to set us up!"

Syaoran frowned. "Oh I see." Then suddenly he smiled and closed the door of the fridge. "But I'd say the plan worked pretty well didn't it?"

And before I knew what was happening, his lips were on mine. I froze for a moment before I started kissing him back. 1…2…3 seconds and still he didn't break the kiss, and I felt my heart-beat quicken. His arms gently held my waist and drew me closer and mine went around his neck.

It was a soft, shy kiss. It was two lonely people trying to reach out and explore each other. And even though it might not have been the perfect kiss, I had never felt so happy.

Finally he gently broke the kiss, and looked at me. "Did that make up for that disastrous attempt a week back, Sakura?" he asked.

I smiled and rested my head against his chest. "Syaoran?"

"Hmm?"

"Call me Ying Fa."


	17. A mixed bag of a day

A/N: I love love love you guys.1100plus reviews is like crazy! Considering the fact that this story is crazy as well... So now I couldn't leave my baby like that, no matter how crazy it is. So here's the 17th, after almost half a year's wait. :hates herself: By the way, all those who thought the last chapter was the end- no way! SS have other issues to sort out :coughMeilingcough:

Yeah, and two more things:

1. Yes, I changed my pen-name- I got bored of the old one. So now I'm Ephemeral Dreamer

2. If you're, by any chance, curious to read the excuses for my long break please refer to my bio/profile/whatever you call it.

**Chapter 17: A mixed bag of a day**

"So you forgave Eriol?" I glanced at Tomoyo, who was now giving me one of her creepy 'looks'. I would have given my right arm to know exactly what was going on in her evil brain, and it was making me increasingly nervous.

"Of course I did. He managed to do, in one hour, what I couldn't for one month!" She sighed. "That really was a stroke of brilliance- setting you both up like that, alone in his house…are you sure you did nothing more than kiss?" She asked slyly.

I blushed hotly. "No! How can you even think that?" I replied, flustered. "I mean- we hardly know each other properly…"

"And that's why he called you for a date? Not because you're his girlfriend, as you keep insisting."

I nodded. "Yeah- he-umm-didn't ask me if I'd like to be his girlfriend or anything. And I don't think it's even a date. He just asked me if I'd be interested in hanging around with him after school, you know, to get to know each other better…"

Tomoyo sighed exasperatedly, and rolled her eyes. "Right. So what exactly would you call Syaoran then, if he's not your boyfriend now?"

"Umm- a good friend?" I offered meekly.

"Yeah- a good friend who kisses you and takes you out on dates."

"It's not a 'date'." I protested.

Tomoyo shook her head in indignation. "Oh Sakura, you'll never change, will you? You and Meiling are so different..." she suddenly looked at me, and smiled evilly. I gulped at that look. "What?" I asked nervously.

"Meiling..." she replied. "She was so smug when you two were not even talking to each other. I can't wait to see her reaction when she comes to know that you're finally together." She suddenly giggled, as though she found that very funny.

However, I didn't feel like giggling at all. I had totally forgotten about Meiling's 'challenge' and her declaration of war. She would definitely not take this well. I frowned.

"What?" Tomoyo asked me.

"You don't think Meiling would do something...extreme- do you?" I said, worried.

Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively. "She had to learn to accept defeat some day. It will crush her ego, but she'll have to live with it." She said firmly. "Anyway, tell me more- how was your first ever 'proper' kiss?"

"You know, they say it's unlucky to talk about your first kiss."

"Yeah, I know. I wish I had been there to capture that on tape..." she said almost regretfully.

I looked at her wistful expression and shook my head. "You know, I'd thought you and Eriol had staged that fight." I quickly said, trying to change the subject.

That broke her reverie, and she turned her face towards me, looking affronted. "How could you even think such a thing?"

"Well, it's not below both of you. You're quite sneaky."

"You're right." she smirked. "Nice idea, Sakura. I'll be sure to use it next time you and Syaoran have a 'misunderstanding'"

"You never give up, do you?"

* * *

I banged my head against my locker. Stupid, stupid Tomoyo. Sometimes it could be such a pain to have a sister like her, and so embarrassing. Now thanks to her the whole school thinks that Syaoran and I are dating. Aargh! 

It happened something like this- this morning I had entered the class, apprehensive of Syaoran's reaction after the"actual kiss". I was wondering if things would be extremely awkward between the both of us again. But as it turned out- I was getting worried for nothing. When I caught Syaoran's eye, he smiled at me,which as usual made my heart skip a beat. I smiled back, and to my immense relief and pleasant surprise- I didn't blush! We didn't make any effort to talk to each other though. It was some sort of silent understanding between us, I suppose. Meiling was in our class, and we didn't know how she would take the fact that we were on talking terms again, or more than "on talking terms", as Tomoyo had put it.

Of course, as it turned out, I had been worried for all the wrong reasons. While we were still waiting for our teacher to come, my dear sweet, conniving, evil sister Tomoyo dragged me over to Syaoran's desk. When he spotted us she winked at him, and then asked, to my horror, in a voice loud enough for the entire class to hear, "So Syaoran, where are you planning to take Sakura on your first date?" The whole class fell silent and turned to our direction, and I wished the ground would open and swallow me.

Few minutes of silence later, one of the girls finally spoke up, "What do you mean? That Syaoran and Sakura are...?" "Dating? Yes." Tomoyo said. "Too bad for all you girls. Syaoran's finally off the market." Tomoyo said loudly, in a very self-satisfied tone. I felt the familiar sensation of warmth on my cheeks, and I knew that they were as red as they could be. If I weren't so shocked and horrified at Tomoyo's actions, I would have probably done her an injury, a very nasty injury.

The whole class' attention now seemed to alternate between Syaoran and me, as if waiting for either of us to confirm or deny this statement. I didn't dare look at Meiling. I could imagine the expression on her face, and I silently prayed that Tomoyo would give whatever was left of me, a decent burial.

My only consolation was that Syaoran's expression mirrored my thoughts, and his face was very very red. And I thanked my lucky stars that our teacher had entered the class soon after. But throughout the day, Syaoran and I had to endure the pointed glances of all our classmates. I knew that most of the glances were from girls, who were probably feeling very jealous. And I didn't like that a bit.

And even though I felt Meiling glare the most, I pointedly avoided meeting her eye.

I banged my head against the locker again. Stupid, stupid Tomoyo.

* * *

"I mean, what was she thinking announcing to the whole class like that?" I rambled. "Really, who does she think she is? First she comes up with all those stupid schemes of hers to set us up, and then she..." 

"Ying Fa, give it a rest," Syaoran's voice interrupted my rant."We haven't come here to talk about your sister's obsession with match-making, have we?" I looked up to meet his gaze and turned away guiltily."Umm...sorry...I just got a bit carried away."

I stared at my almost-empty plate. "Well, I'm full." I said, pushing it away and glancing around the little restaurant. Syaoran nodded.

* * *

I turned my gaze sideways to look at Syaoran, as we walked home together. "Thanks for the lunch." 

"Well, I enjoyed it. There's no need to thank me for it, you know." he said. "And that's a first actually. I've always hated eating out with a girl." He shuddered. "I've had very bad experiences." At my questioning glance he added, "Well, Eriol use to set up double dates and blind dates for me when we were in Hong Kong. Needless to say, each one was worse than the last. Some of the girls he use to set me up with were very bold, some trying to forcibly kiss me and even trying to grope me." I was strongly reminded of Meiling. "Finally Eriol gave up." He continued, with a lopsided smile.

I giggled. "Why does this sound so familiar to me?" He chuckled. "You know, you're lucky Eriol gave up after some time.Tomoyo still hasn't given up after all this time" I added with a sigh. "Really after today's incident she's crossed the limit."

Syaoran regarded me closely. "Well, she shouldn't have done that. But I don't think it was all that bad."

"Not all that bad? Of course it's bad- she made it seem like we're boyfriend-girlfriend!"

He raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So? What do you mean "so"? We aren't actually boyfriend-girlfriend."

He stopped. "We aren't?"

"No, we aren't. We are just good friends, right?"

He looked at me and blinked. "Oh." He looked away. "Oh, okay. Right...good friends..." He resumed walking, with his hands in his pockets.

I stopped and watched him, suddenly feeling guilty for some reason. Did I say something wrong? I mentally kicked myself- I could be so tactless sometimes. Maybe Syaoran considered us to be more than "good friends". Does a kiss automatically translate as "now we're dating"? But he never asked me...

"Why are you standing there?" I shook myself out of my thoughts to find Syaoran observing me. He came closer. "Is something bothering you?" He asked softly.

"Xiao Lang!" Came a giggling voice. I saw Syaoran stare at something or someone behind me and wince. I turned around to find two of Syaoran's sisters- Fei-Mei and Fan-Ren staring at us as though Christmas had come early.

"Oh Xiao Lang!" cried Fan-Ren before launching herself on him. "Where were you during lunch? We thought someone had kidnapped our dear little brother." she said, pinching his cheeks, while he mumbled "get off".

"Looks like we needn't have been worried about you at all." Fei-Mei said looking at me in a way which reminded me of Tomoyo. I didn't like the look at all. "Your name's Sakura isn't it? Mr Kinomoto's daughter?" I gulped and nodded.

Fan-Ren released her brother. "So Xiao Lang. When was the last time you willingly went cavorting with a girl and treated her to lunch? Hmm...that would be...never!"

"So now what are you doing cavorting with Sakura and treating her to lunch?" Fei-Mei asked slyly.

Syaoran mumbled something incoherent.

"Sorry young brother, didn't get that."

"I said- I'm not 'cavorting' with her, and she's just a good friend." Syaoran said through gritted teeth.

Fei-Mei and Fan-Ren exchanged looks. "Ah..."good friend". Fei-Mei, when was the last time Xiao Lang had a female "good friend"?"

"Never!" Fei-mei said almost gleefully. I gulped.

Syaoran was now looking extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed. "Umm...I'll go now.See you later, Ying- I mean- Sakura." Saying that he practically ran. I felt a twinge of sympathy for him.

The sisters turned to me. "Oh Sakura, how did you do it?" Fei-Mei, said in a mock dramatic way, covering her face with one hand and facing away.

"Yes, how did you manage to steal our little brother's heart?" Fan-Ren said for added affect.

Face resembling a tomato, I responded. "Umm...I...er..."

The sisters exchanged glances again at my reaction and burst into giggles. "Oh Sakura, it seems you're just as bad as Xiao Lang when it comes to things like loooooove." Fei-Mei said in a sing-song voice and patted my head.

"Perfect!" Fan-Ren quipped.

For the second time in one day, the ground swallowing me seemed a very favourable option.

* * *

I sighed as I finally entered the shelter of my home. It had been a really long day, and I felt very tired. Of course lunch with Syaoran had been the best part of the day, hands down. It was the first time I had seen Syaoran talking so much, he's always so silent around everyone. "It's you. Something about you makes me open up about myself," he had said with a grin. I sighed. If only the rest of the world would leave us alone. I blushed, remembering the incident in class, and then the meeting with Syaoran's sisters. 

I wasn't surprised to find that Tomoyo wasn't in. She had said that she was going to Eriol's place to do "home-work". Which is good for her. She gets a few more hours to live. I was planning to kill her as soon as we reached the house and were left alone...

I froze in my thoughts when I spotted Meiling sitting on the couch. She had slipped my mind altogether.

She stood up, and put on a fake smile. "Oh hello, _Ying Fa_. Congratulations on your _boyfriend_." She taunted, and making a face she stalked off towards her room, slamming the door as she went inside.

Leaving me with a strange sense of fore-boding.

* * *

A/N: I know. I know. Meiling's a bitch in this story. But what would the point of this story be if she's not a bitch? So yeah- there's more evil Meiling to come. And this story is coming to it's conclusion now. :sigh: And once it's over I'm going to make it up to Meiling by redeeming her in a big way in my other fic- Dreams of amber. I promise. 

I'm making my own website now- yay! It's where I'm going to store all my fics and favourites. I'll announce it with the link when it's done.

Lastly- I'm still on the lookout for staff for my C2 archive- the more the merrier, you see. If you're interested please say so in your review, and I'll send the confirmation to your id.


	18. Figuring out, asking out

Chapter 18: Figuring out, asking out

"So when are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

I looked up to meet Tomoyo's gaze. "What makes you think anything's wrong?"

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Well, you have been staring at that blank page for the past 10 minutes now. And you haven't told me what happened on your…erm…'friendly date' with Syaoran."

We were currently sitting in Tomoyo's room and doing our home-work, or trying to, in my case.

Tomoyo leaned forward and pressed on. "So did he kiss you?"

Jerked out of my thoughts, I asked "What?"

She smirked. "Kiss you as a 'good friend', I mean." She teased.

I looked away. "I don't know…"

She looked at me oddly. "You don't know if he kissed you? What's that supposed to mean?"

"No, I mean- I don't know if we're just 'good friends' any more."

She raised her eyebrows at my remark. Then coming to my side, she grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at her. "Sakura, you've finally figured it out! That too without my help!" Her voice almost seemed proud. "Oh Sakura, you've finally _finally_ grown out of your clueless self!" And saying that she enclosed me in a tight hug.

I winced and broke free. "Umm…I'm not sure. When I told Syaoran, he didn't-"

"WHAT? You told Syaoran _what_?" Tomoyo interrupted.

I bit my lip. "That we're just good friends…" I replied in a small voice.

Tomoyo face-palmed. "I take it back. You're as clueless as EVER!" She shook me by the shoulder. "You told Syaoran! And what did he say?"

"Erm…he didn't say anything. But umm…he did seem a bit sad…"

She shook her head. "A _bit_ sad? Sakura, you broke his heart!"

"Broke-his-what?" I looked at her incredulously.

"Sakura, he has never shown this much interest in any other girl. I'm sure he thinks of you as more than a 'good friend'."

"But he never said…"

Tomoyo sighed exasperatedly. "He kissed you, didn't he?"

"Yes, but…"

"Do you want Syaoran only as a good friend?"

I shook my head, feeling very depressed for some reason. "No. I like him, a lot. But…I wasn't sure what he thought…"

"Sakura, please- you aren't still taking Meiling's statement about him pitying you seriously, are you?"

"No…"

"Then you better clear things up with him and make up for what you said."

"How?"

She remained thoughtful for a moment, and suddenly stood up. "I know! Take him out for dinner."

"What? Me?"

"Yes, you. You haven't spent all your pocket-money, have you?"

"No…"

"Good, then. You don't have to go to any fancy restaurant. The one down the street will be good enough." Her eyes were bright. "And during dinner, you can clear up all misunderstandings."

I pondered over her absurd idea. "I don't know…" I said unsure. "Isn't the guy supposed to be taking the girl out for dinner and not the other way round?"

"Oh, don't be so boring." Tomoyo waved her hand dismissively. "There's nothing wrong in the girl asking the guy out. And anyway, Syaoran has been so nice to you all this time. And you just had to ruin everything with your stupid 'just good friends' thing. It would only be fair for you to do something nice for a change. Now go call him."

"Now?"

"Yes."

"But…"

"And ask him if he's free on Saturday evening."

"Saturday? As in tomorrow?"

"Yes."

* * *

Sitting on the sofa in the living room, I hesitantly punched the number on the phone and gulped as I heard the ringing tone on the other side.

"Good evening. You've reached the Li residence. Who do you wish to speak to?" came a female voice, which I guessed as Xiefa's.

"Umm…I…er- is Syaoran there?"

There was a pause. "You wish to speak to Xiao Lang?" she asked.

"Yes…"

"May I now who this is?"

"Sakura…Kinomoto. I'm your neighbour. Last month we met at the-"

"Dinner. Yes, yes, I remember." There was another pause. "Well, hold on. I'll call him."

The sound of the receiver being kept on a table and talking female voices followed. I waited, feeling extremely nervous. A click later, Syaoran's voice drifted in. "Hello? Ying Fa?"

"Yes." I swallowed. "Uh- hi. I…um…just called to ask you if you're…er…free tomorrow evening."

"Well, yeah. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go for dinner with me."

He chuckled. "So you are going to take me out for dinner." There was a hint of incredulity in his voice.

"Uh-huh."

"You're serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" You treated me to lunch today, didn't you? It would only be fair."

He was silent. "Okay…where are you planning to go?"

"You know the little restaurant down the street. The food there's really good."

"And when should I pick you up?"

I thought for a moment. "You don't have to pick me up. Just meet me at the restaurant at 7."

"Oh- okay." He was silent again. "So this is just a friendly date, hmm?"

Before I could answer, the conversation was interrupted by a giggle. "Of course Xiao Lang, you and _Ying Fa_ are just going on a _friendly_ date." Came a voice, which I recognised as Fei-Mei's. Syaoran groaned.

"Oh yes, little brother. You don't think we could help listening?" This time it was Fan-Ren, and I idly wondered just how many phone extensions they had in the Li mansion.

"Really, Xiao Lang. How can any guy be so shy? Aren't you ashamed at making the girl ask you out?" More giggling, and an indignant sigh which probably came from Syaoran.

"I'll see you later, Sakura." He said quickly.

"Yeah, we'll see you later too, _Ying Fa_." Giggles followed.

I quickly hung up and tried to force my blush down. That hadn't gone as I had wanted it to. Teasing from Syaoran's sisters aside, I had only managed to worsen the 'good friends' fiasco. And what exactly had those sisters meant when they said "we'll see you later too"? I imagined various scenarios in which, during the dinner Tomoyo would pop up from behind a chair, yielding a camera. Or Fan-Ren and Fei-Mei sitting close-by, watching us, squealing and giggling at every opportunity.

This was a disaster waiting to happen.

As I walked back to my room, engrossed in my thoughts, I didn't notice Meiling's glances as I went past her.


End file.
